These Times that Change
by Midnight's Shining Star
Summary: Konoha receives information on the Akatsuki from an unknown source. Who could this person be and why are they sending Konoha information? Rating is M for violence, gore, and language in Chapter 11. Might be more later.
1. Discovery

**A/N: Well, here it is! The fanfic I was talking about! Sorry that this chapter is kinda short..I was rushing to get it finished and I really didn't have any ideas for the intro. This takes place during the Fourth Shinobi World War (Anime I suppose..) but it's AU..well, you'll see. Unlike the anime all the nations aren't fighting as one force but they are temporary allies until the war is over. **

**I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in this fic.  
**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter One: Discovery**

* * *

_Thunk._

The sound of weapons hitting wood reverberated through the forest training grounds. Another _thunk_ _thunk _was heard as two more weapons found their mark in the rugged trunk of a nearby tree. A young Konoha shinobi watched as each precisely thrown shuriken made its target.

Uchiha Sasuke was training. Well, not training really. More like tossing shuriken into random trees while contemplating things. Yeah, this didn't count as training.

_Thunk_.

The sound alerted the raven haired boy that yet another one of his weapons had hit its mark. Truly, Sasuke didn't understand people sometimes. He had never expected to be let back into Konoha though he supposed Naruto had a lot to do with that. The dobe. These people must really be clueless to let an S-rank criminal such as he just re-enter the community with little repercussion.

They were idiots, nice idiots Sasuke had to admit but idiots all the same. Still, he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't glad to be back in Konoha though he'd never admit it to anyone. No, to anyone else he would only say he came back because it was more convenient. That was all. No attachments or anything. Simple convenience. He had the feeling though that his former teammates didn't buy this at all. At least Sakura and Kakashi seemed to know more. Naruto, being the idiot he was, didn't really care _why_ Sasuke was back so much as the fact that he was actually back.

In any event Sasuke decided that it didn't matter so much anymore. Those events had taken place months-almost a year-ago and the young shinobi decided not to dwell too much on the past.

_Sakura…_

His thoughts turned to his pink haired fiancé. Yes, fiancé. No, he was not going soft. Alright, maybe a little but Sakura had known things about him that even he himself did not know. And when he had first returned he had felt for some reason that she was the one person he could trust with all his secrets. For some reason she seemed to understand him. Not completely, she would never be able to do that, but she accepted him and accepted his reasoning. And, over time, he had grown to love her. Maybe he always had and just didn't realize it until now. Either way he knew he loved her and she him.

Fiancé…the concept was new and slightly strange to the young Uchiha. Maybe it was because they were so young maybe it was because he never thought he, Uchiha Sasuke, could ever love someone like this. But he did. He loved her more than she knew, maybe even more than he knew though he wasn't very touchy about his feelings. Sasuke sighed and started collecting his things, his "training" officially over. He had missions to complete. Being an ANBU captain was very demanding.

* * *

The forest was silent as the squad of four ANBU ninja raced through. Sasuke, now in his official ANBU attire was at the head of the group. He glanced around surreptitiously at the three other ANBU in the squad but couldn't identify any of them. Not that he would have wanted to anyways but on missions like these when one was running for hours on end one tended to wonder about one's teammates.

Sasuke inwardly sighed. He didn't like how long this was taking. _It'll be easy, she says, won't take long, she says. Just search for anything unusual she says. Four ANBU should get it done in no time she says. Damn Hokage. How annoying. _Sasuke thought. _I don't see her out here looking with us. Hmph. _Sasuke was annoyed but he knew Tsunade was right, probably, which only made him more annoyed.

It was a terribly easy mission for a squad of ANBU but the young Uchiha knew the reasoning behind it. Konoha and the rest of the four shinobi nations were at war with the Akatsuki, or rather, with the remainder of Akatsuki and hordes of mindless white Zetsu clones. And, because they were at war, it was better to send a squad of ANBU to this kind of job rather than the usual team of normal jonin. Though they were only inspecting a few areas of interest who knows what they could find? And, if it was one of the Akatsuki as Tsunade had suspected then normal jonin would most likely be no match for said Akatsuki. Hell, four ANBU might no match for one Akatsuki member let alone only one squad of jonin!

Sasuke contemplated for a moment on how the Hokage could say this mission was going to be a piece of cake if she expected them to find an Akatsuki member. Maybe Tsunade didn't really think that though. Maybe she was just sending ANBU to be cautious. After all, you can never be too careful. Either way, Sasuke didn't really care. He just wanted to get this freaking mission over with so that they could all go home and maybe he could go back and do some real training. He could really use some more weapons practice.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt a flicker of unfamiliar chakra in the area. He made a motion for the ANBU following him to stop and mask their chakra. Quickly, and without a word each ninja obeyed. Sasuke did the same himself and activated his Sharingan. He scanned the perimeter but could see nothing out of order. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the chakra signal vanished. Sasuke made another motion to have the ANBU check the area of a ninja who might be masking their chakra but after about twenty minutes of searching no one showed up. Sasuke was beginning to think that maybe he had imagined the whole thing and that he could really use a vacation when suddenly, one of the ANBU spoke up.

"Taichou! Come here! Quick!"

In a flash the Uchiha was beside the ninja.

"Well?" He asked trying to mask his relief that he had actually not lost his mind just yet.

"Look!"

* * *

"So, you could not find the ninja who left this then?"

"Hai. Whoever did it was long gone by the time we retrieved the item."

"It just doesn't make sense" Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples. "Why would someone leave us information, valuable information at that, on the Akatsuki and then just disappear without a trace or without even letting us know who they are!"

"Maybe it's a trap" the young ANBU captain suggested. Tsunade nodded slowly.

"That is a possibility I suppose…still, I don't know. Something just doesn't seem right. It's not adding up. What purpose would Akatsuki have in tricking us like this? They already have the upper hand right now. And why haven't any of the other nations received such messages? We are an allied force. I mean, I suppose it's possible they would just want to distract Konoha for now but still…"

Sasuke just listened quietly. He really didn't have any idea as to who left the scroll with the message and information on Akatsuki. Whoever it was hadn't even left a name, only a note telling them that this information could help them with the war. How did they even know if it was a ninja? If the information contained in the scroll was true it was definitely of great use to Konoha and her allies. If it wasn't then there could be serious repercussions for taking the info as legit.

"Well" he began "I suppose I can have ANBU check the legitimacy of this information."

Tsunade tapped her chin "I suppose that would be best for now…Though, I don't know how you could go about doing that exactly."

"We will do our best" the Uchiha answered and with that he was gone.

The Hokage sighed and leaned back in her chair. What to do. On top of everything else that was going on _this_ had to happen. It was great news actually, if only they could figure out what was meant by it.

"Shizune!" Tsunade called "I'm going out for a few minutes!"

"Hai, alright Tsunade-sama." Came the reply.

Tsunade sighed again. She could really use a drink.

* * *

Meanwhile, close to the borders of the fire country, a figure gazed out across the land. _Well, hopefully they found it. And hopefully they'll be able to use that information. Why am I doing this even? Hm, what's done is done I suppose. Can't change it now. Those Konaha ninja better be grateful! They have no idea…_

With that final thought the figure leapt off into the trees.

* * *

**Well, hope you liked it! Please R&R! It will make me want to write more :3 If you have anything you would like to see in this fic let me know! I might be able to fit it in. Just no hentai or yaoi -_-**

**Japanese Reference:  
**

Dobe = Idiot (slang as far as I know..)  
Taichou = Captain  
Hai = Yes  
Sama = Lord/Lady


	2. Suspicions Arise

**A/N: Yay! Second chapter is finally up! Sorry it took me so long, I was trying to make this one a good one! Just a few notes before we begin:**

**Sasori is dead. Hidan and Kakuzu are on a really long mission. Itachi is...Itachi. You'll have to keep reading to find out what happens with him. Tobi is kinda like the co-leader of Akatsuki but Nagato does all the official stuff. Everyone knows about Tobi not really being a good boy and Deidara hates him for it but we'll have to explore that later :P I call Pein Nagato in this fic but all the Akatsuki members besides Tobi call him Pein. Annd I think that's about it! Once again I apologize for any OOC-ness here!  
**

**And I don't own any of the characters in this fic.  
**

* * *

**These Times that Change**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Suspicions Arise**

* * *

Sasuke sighed. He was back in Tsunade's office again. It seemed as if he spent most of his time there nowadays. Then again, what could he expect? He was an ANBU after all.

"So, the information is legit then?"

"Hai, as far as we can tell anyways."

"Hmm…" Tsunade leaned back in her chair and tilted her head slightly upward "Well, what do you think Sasuke? Can we trust this information to be true?"

Sasuke was rather surprised at the question. It wasn't his job to provide opinions on matters such as these. But Tsunade was asking him all the same.

"Well" he began "our sources seem pretty reliable and-"

"I don't care what the sources say" Tsunade interrupted. "I want to know what you think about this."

Sasuke blinked a couple of times. Then he answered "It all seems fine to me. I believe we can trust the information to be legitimate. I do think that we should proceed with caution though and be ready in the event that it is untrue."

"I see…" the Hokage thought for a while before waving her hand and said "Arigato that is all Sasuke. I'll call you when I've decided."

Sasuke nodded and left pulling his ANBU mask on as he went. He sighed again as he stepped out into the open air. What the Hokage wanted to do was really up to her. He couldn't really care either way. Alright, that was a lie; he did sort-of care. A little bit. But what Tsunade was going to do would decide what his next mission would be, how could he not care? And alright, he cared about what happened to the village and Naruto. A little bit. Not that he would let anyone know or anything though.

The young Uchiha was contemplating all this while walking through the village when suddenly he heard "Oi! Sasuke! Come here!"

Sasuke jumped at the sound of his name being called. _Damn, that dobe, I thought I went over this with him already. Does he want to blow my cover or something? _

The ANBU captain shook his head. How Naruto could tell it was Sasuke when he was wearing his ANBU clothes was beyond him. That dobe could get lost in his own village! However it had happened, Sasuke was going to have to have a word with Naruto before anyone around here got suspicious.

Quickly, before Naruto could shout out again Sasuke grabbed him and dragged him to a deserted corner of the village ignoring the muffled protests from the other.

"Dobe! What the hell were you trying to do back there? I thought we went over this already!"

"Oi! What was that for Sasuke? And what are you talking about?"

Sasuke put his right hand up to his head. Could Naruto really be this stupid? The Uchiha opened his mouth to speak when suddenly a look of realization hit Naruto

"Ohh…yeah, that's what you mean. Gomen Sasuke, I forgot really!"

Sasuke sighed. He was trying really hard not to kill his best friend at the moment. Sometimes Naruto could just be so clueless.

"You don't like ramen right?"

_What?_

Sasuke slapped himself in the face and tried really hard not to strangle/hit/kill Naruto right then and there.

"NO!" He practically shouted. Naruto looked surprised at the sudden outburst. Sasuke tried to calm himself down a bit.

"No, no, no you dobe! _Remember?_ The fact that no one else is supposed to know about this? _REMEMBER?_"

"Ohhhhh…yeeeeah, alright I remember now gomen, really!"

Sasuke glared at Naruto. He still wasn't so sure the dobe got it but he'd let him go for now. Sasuke had things that he needed to do and who knows when the Hokage would want him back again.

"Fine. Whatever. Just don't mess up again. I have to go."

"Go? Where? Come on Sasuke you never have time to spend with your old team anymore!"

_Actually, I spend time with Sakura…_ Sasuke thought but to Naruto he said

"Tch, well, I'm kinda busy right now. I'll see you." And with that Sasuke turned and left.

* * *

"Well, it seems someone has leaked information to our enemies"

"Hm? What are you talking about Tobi?"

"Apparently Konoha knows the next move we're going to make. Otherwise they would not have split their forces like this."

"And how do we know this is not just coincidence?"

"Coincidence?" The other snorted "I think not. Really Nagato I thought you were smarter than that. There's no possible way Konoha could've known ahead of time that we were going to attack them from that direction. No, the answer is simple; they have somehow received information on our strategy."

"But the only ones who have access to our plans are other Akatsuki members…"

"Exactly."

"So you're saying…"

"We have a traitor among Akatsuki."

Nagato was still unsure about this. "Really Tobi, it was one time. How can we accuse anyone if it only happened once? It's not much evidence."

"It's not much but it's enough. However, if you're so unsure I suppose we just won't worry about it. It'll be your fault then if we really do have a traitor and lose the war all because of it but ah, I guess you're right. We can't accuse anyone just yet so why worry?"

Nagato looked uncomfortable. He hated when Tobi did that…whatever it was that he did. "I suppose I'll call the rest of Akatsuki…we can discuss it more when everyone else is here."

"Hm" was all the only answer he received. Nagato sighed and started the communication jutsu. Then he waited for the rest of Akatsuki to show up. One by one each of the Akatsuki flickered into view.

"So, what are we here for this time?" A blue shark nin asked.

Nagato cleared his voice then answered "It seems Konoha has somehow gotten hold of our plans…" Nagato paused for a minute to stare at each member "...And the only ones who have access to those plans are members of Akatsuki."

"So, you're implying that one of us is working with our enemies? _A rather bold assumption to make._"

Nagato turned to the man who had just spoken "Hai, Zetsu, that is exactly what I am implying. And I don't believe it is a foolish assumption. After all, it is highly unlikely that our security was compromised without us figuring it out. Whoever did it would have to have access to the base as well as the knowledge of the security measures."

"Tch. And why would any of us do that? It's not like Konoha's going to thank us or anything. Hell, they'd probably take the info then just kill us. Or try to, un."

"You tell us, Deidara." Tobi answered in a sinister voice. The blonde glared at his former partner.

"Oh, so you think _I'm_ your traitor then? What about Kisame? Or Zetsu? Or Konan? Hell, how do we know you and Pein-sama aren't just setting this up so you can get rid of one of us? Un."

"Calm down Deidara" Nagato answered. "I haven't blamed anyone yet. I simply wanted to state that we know Konoha knows our plans. And it's only logical to believe that a member in Akatsuki is supplying that information. If anyone knows anything it would be wise to speak up now. And if there really is a traitor in Akatsuki I will say this, you may think you're clear now but you will be found eventually. That day you will wish you had never been born."

An unsettled silence hung in the air. Finally, Nagato said "No one has anything? You are all dismissed then. But remember, you can't hide forever." And with that he ended his part of the communication jutsu and left the others to do what they would.

Nagato turned to face the masked man who was still beside him "Happy? It didn't appear as if any of them knew anything. It was most likely coincidence after all." And with that Akatsuki's leader stormed off. Tobi stayed for a moment and shook his head. Then he left after Nagato.

The rest of Akatsuki was still in somewhat of a shock state. None of them left but nobody said anything either. Finally, Konan spoke up. "I don't know what's going on here but I do know that Pein will keep his word." With that semi-warning the blue haired kunoichi flickered out. Zetsu just grunted something about getting back to work and Kisame nodded in agreement. The two also flickered out leaving Deidara who simply ended his end of the jutsu since there was no one left.

_Is this really all worth it? Why did I agree to this in the first place? Akatsuki is beginning to get suspicious…I'll have to be more careful, or else… Hell, why do I feel the need to help those Konoha idiots? They're probably not even grateful. I shouldn't be doing this…should I? Damnit, stop questioning things! I said I'd do this…I promised Itachi…and I won't break that._

A small sigh escaped the lips of the ex-Iwa nin. _Better get going. _

* * *

Sasuke was back in the Hokage's office yet again. _I'll never be able to escape this place. One of the prices of being an ANBU captain I suppose. _

"Well, as you may have inferred from our change in tactics, I have decided to trust the info source for now."

Sasuke just nodded. It wasn't like the Hokage needed his permission to do stuff like that or anything. He didn't know why she bothered telling him.

"Which is why I want you to go back to that area and see if you can find anything else pertaining to this."

Oh. Well that made sense. She probably wanted to know if they could find anything else out about who sent the info and if there was anymore. Sasuke wasn't sure this was possible, after all when they had searched for whoever dropped the scroll last time there was no trace. Nothing. Just a simple chakra flare one moment and only a scroll the next. Still, he couldn't really say no to the Hokage. And you never know what you could find after a second search.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. We'll leave right away."

Tsunade nodded and Sasuke left to collect the rest of his team. A short while later the four ANBU headed out. While they were traveling Sasuke couldn't help but wonder about who left the scroll. He was running all the possibilities through his head but he still couldn't figure out how someone would be able to get them such detailed information.

_It really is impossible. After all, you'd probably have to be like a member of Aka – wait a minute…_

Sasuke shook his head. Why would any of the Akatsuki want to help them? It didn't make any sense. The only Akatsuki member that he would believe that would do such a thing would be Itachi. But Itachi was dead. Everyone knew that, so then, who? Sasuke shook his head again. He was probably reading too much into it. More or less someone had been lucky enough to breach Akatsuki's security and then live to get the information to Konoha. Of course, whoever it was would have to be a highly skilled ninja. ANBU rank at least probably. Or maybe Akatsuki was just getting careless. Who knew really. It could even be someone in Konoha who just didn't want their identity to be known. Sasuke could understand that well enough.

A sudden chakra flare interrupted Sasuke's train of thought. He stopped running and made a motion for the following ANBU to do the same. Then, as happened the last time, all of the ANBU started searching the area. And once again there was no trace of the mysterious chakra, only a simple scroll was found in the perimeter.

_Damn. Whoever it is has to be really quick or just really good at sensing ninja and then hiding their chakra in advance. The flare wasn't even around long enough for me to detect if it was the same kind of chakra as last time. _

Sasuke stared at the scroll in his hand. Well, at least he wouldn't go back to the Hokage empty handed.

From a far off distance Deidara watched as the ANBU left.

_Hmm, they seem to be using it or they probably wouldn't have come back. That or they were looking for the person who left them such nice information. Or both. Whatever. I'm going to have to find different places to stash these scrolls though. If I keep coming back here someone else might start finding out about this. And we wouldn't want that, now would we?_

The blonde smirked as he turned to go. He could definitely have some fun with this.

* * *

**A/N: That's the chapter! Please R&R, it makes me want to write more! Also, suggestions are welcome and if you would like to see something specific in this fic just let me know and I might be able to work it in! Nothing explicit though, it's still Teen rated :P**

**Special thanks to feathered moon wings for the review! Definitely be implementing that idea later!  
**

**The humor-ish bit with Naruto and Sasuke was for my brother; hope you like TPM xP  
**

**Japanese Reference:  
**

-Arigato = Thank You  
-Hai = Yes  
-Dobe = Idiot (slang)  
-Gomen = Sorry/I'm sorry  
-Sama = Lord/Lady


	3. Life goes on, or does it?

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter took me so long to finish! I've been sooo busy with college applications and stuff. To make up for it I made this chappie an extra long one; hope you enjoy! Yet again, I apologize for any OOC-ness in advance; I try to keep them in character as best as possible!**

**I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the fic.**

* * *

**These Times that Change**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Life goes on, or does it?**

* * *

Routine can be a funny thing. Right when it actually seems to become a routine something always comes along to upset it. Always. At least, almost always. Then you're found making something routine that, in your wildest dreams, you would never even have considered. And it becomes completely normal. Until something even greater comes to upset that one as well. Rinse, repeat. _Messed up really. _Deidara thought _but who really gives a damn? Makes life interesting at least. _

The blonde had been amusing himself by rolling around a piece of clay in his hands then tossing it in the air and catching it. Really, he was bored and not because he had nothing to do. In fact, there were plenty of things the young bomber could be doing but he just didn't feel like it at the moment. _Wasting time, Sasori would say. But he's dead…heh... _Deidara's thoughts trailed off and he starting thinking about what had happened in the past month. After the first few times he had left the scrolls everyone seemed to stop caring who was actually doing it and it was just another normal part of life. If the Konoha ninja were still trying to figure it out they weren't making much progress. Deidara thought that it was maybe because they were just incompetent or maybe they didn't really care. Either way it didn't matter as long as the Leaf nins just took the damn scrolls and got the hell out of there. And they had been. In any case, they hadn't been snooping around like the first few times hoping to find who knows what. A clue or something the blonde presumed. Like he'd be so careless anyways.

Akatsuki had also seemed to lay off the case for the time being. At least neither Pein nor Tobi had said anything to anyone of late. And after the first time nothing really happened that seemed to alarm the Akatsuki. Maybe they were thinking it was just a fluke after all. Or maybe they really did know it was him and were just waiting for the right time to take care of him. _Hell, when did I become so damn philosophical? _Deidara shook his head _Tch, I should probably go anyways. Waste any more time and someone might actually come looking for me. Pfft. As if. _

He got up and prepared to put away the clay he had been playing with but as an afterthought Deidara quickly sculpted a clay bird, flew it up into the trees, and detonated it causing some real birds nearby to squawk in alarm and take to the skies. _Hell yeah! Don't get to do that often enough anymore. _And with a satisfied smirk the blonde turned to go.

He needed to go drop the latest scroll off somewhere the Konoha nins would find it and then Pein wanted him to go check on something about someone who could potentially have something that could somehow help Akatsuki in some way or another. Yeah, he really hadn't been paying attention when he'd been assigned that mission. It had just sounded so damn boring. All he really knew was that whatever he had to do was one of the villages close to Konoha so it worked out. He could figure out details once he got there.

Deidara made his way through the forest towards Konoha. Lately he'd been leaving the information closer and closer to the village. This was partially due to the fact that he really was getting bored with how damn easy it was to get away from the tracker nins without being detected and wanting something more of a challenge but it was also slightly due to his curiosity of the village itself. The blonde had never actually seen what the village looked like and was rather interested in what the hell was so special about it and what the inhabitants actually did there. After all, Konoha's reputation preceded it and Deidara wanted to know just what was so great about the place that produced some of the five great nations best ninja. _And also some of the ones with the craziest ideas I've ever heard. _The blonde mentally added. _Too nice for their own good, hmph. Idiots really, yet they can be pretty strong…_ the last bit being the exact reason why Deidara wanted to see what the village had to offer. However he hadn't gotten close enough to see inside yet and he wasn't sure he wanted to risk it. Yeah, the ANBU were easy enough to get away from but that was when there was only a few of them and though Deidara was sure he could probably pull it off he just didn't feel like risking it at the moment. Also, it would probably cost him more time than he had since he was always running between the Land of Fire and whatever the hell the Akatsuki wanted him to do.

By now he had made it to the outskirts of one of the nearby villages to Konoha. The smell of smoke, a loud _crash_ followed by screaming snapped the Akatsuki member out of his thoughts. He turned his head toward the source of the commotion and saw smoke pouring out of the village followed by the loud _crash bang_ of something rather large and heavy falling over. _Hm. Either the war's made its way this far out already or it's a really big band of rogue ninja ransacking a defenseless village. _Quite honestly, Deidara didn't care which it was or even what was going on and prepared to continue on his merry way again when a sudden memory flashed through his mind and, in that split second, he found himself at the back entrance of the village looking in. He was of course, expecting to see some form of mass destruction, but that still did not prepare the blonde ex-Iwa nin for the decimation he now saw.

The street was practically a river of blood. Some people lay around in the mess while others just ran by, not caring or not daring to help those beneath their feet. Many were dismembered with limbs strewn out everyone so that the area looked more like someone had just dug up a graveyard or something. Some had their heads bashed in with both their brains and blood leaking out while others were sliced open so that you could see all their inner organs. Still others even had their faces ripped off. The worst were always the children whose pitiful screams and shrieks could probably be heard from miles away. And there were those ones who were lost, too scared to run or just not knowing what to do. This was nothing new to Deidara, he had seen most of it before but in that moment it seemed as if he had only just discovered it. Being a shinobi, and a rogue shinobi at that, the blonde had done his share of killing. But he wasn't this cruel, he always made sure the blasts he used with his bombs were clean and killed his opponents with one blow. More efficient anyways, and he never intentionally hurt young children. No, he wasn't this bad, at least, he hoped.

Deidara was on the verge of stepping in when some Konoha ANBU came, snapping him out of reverie and causing him to back away slightly, eventually entirely, and continue on with his mission. _Anyways, it's none of my business. I'm against this war just as much as the next person but that doesn't mean I have to feel obliged to step in and help every single village that happens to get caught up in it. Tch, besides, I have work to do. _And with that the blonde pushed the whole experience to the back of his mind, determined to make this just another one of life's many momentary incidents.

* * *

Sasuke was walking through Konoha on the way to the training grounds. _Finally, I can get some good training in._

"SASUKEEEE!" Naruto shouted running up to the Uchiha. _Or not,_ _Damnit! That dobe just doesn't know when to leave people alone. _

Sasuke first just tried to ignore the annoying blonde but Naruto, being Naruto, wouldn't shut the hell up. So finally, Sasuke turned to face him with a menacing glare hoping maybe that would scare the dobe off and hissed "_What, _Naruto?"

Naruto, being Naruto however, was totally unfazed by Sasuke's death glare and instead proceeded to ask all kinds of stupid annoying questions that only Naruto could. Sasuke was really only half paying attention when finally, Naruto said "Oh and I was actually supposed to give you a message from Grandma Tsunade"

_Oh? The baka has some useful information for me? That's news..._ "What dobe?"

"Hm, yeah, I kinda forget now…wait, let me think…"

_Shit, this is just _perfect_. Leave it to Naruto to forget something like that. _"What do you mean you don't remember?"

"Gomen, Sasuke, I guess it just slipped my mind!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and heaved a mental sigh. He decided if he was going to be stuck with Naruto he might as well have some fun with the idiotic ninja.

"Hey Naruto, if you really don't remember maybe we can take you to Ibiki and see if he can jog your memory."

Naruto, remembering the last time he'd been subjected to Ibiki's mind jutsus, visibly paled and answered "Ah, no! Wait, I think I remember! Uh, yeah that's it!"

_Finally. _"Well?"

"Here! I was supposed to give you this!" Naruto's grinned widely as he handed a piece of folded up paper to the Uchiha who took it and unfolding it, started to read.

"Naruto…" Sasuke said in a dangerously low voice "you're sure this is what you were supposed to give me?"

"Uh yeah" Naruto answered, still smiling "why?"

"Because, this isn't from the Hokage"

"It isn't?" Smile vanishing instantly replaced by look of puzzlement.

"No…IT'S A DAMN SHOPPING LIST FROM SAKURA YOU FREAKING DOBE!"

"Oh…wups, guess I got it mixed up! Though I think I was supposed to give you that too…"

"Ugh, never mind, I'll just go see the Hokage myself." And with that the Uchiha started off towards Tsunade's office.

"Wonder what he's so upset about…" Naruto wondered aloud to himself "Oh well, it's about time for some ramen anyways!"

Sasuke meanwhile had made his way to the Hokage's building and, not being one much for doors, came in through one of the open windows. Making his way to Tsunade's office and letting himself in he said "Naruto said you had a message for me but he couldn't remember it."

Tsunade looked up from her work clearly surprised to see the young ANBU captain there. "Oh, it's you Sasuke. Naruto didn't give you the scroll then?"

_NO!_ Sasuke thought but remained silent.

"Well then, apparently one of the villages outlying Konoha was attacked by allies of the Akatsuki. The emergency response team sent word that they thought they caught a glimpse of an actual member of Akatsuki so I'd like you to take a squad and go investigate. If there is one there, try to bring them back. _Alive_ please." The Hokage said, putting extra emphasis on the last part.

Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes. _So basically, she wants me to go chasing after a ninja that may or may not have been there. And even if they were at the site who says they're still there now? Damnit. Whatever. _

"Right, do we have any description of the supposed Akatsuki member?"

"Sorry, but no. The ANBU only caught sight of an Akatsuki cloak and figured they'd better notify me."

Sasuke only nodded in response. Then turned and left to go retrieve his squad and start out on this new mission.

* * *

Having left yet another information scroll Deidara retreated back in the woods to wait. Generally, he timed it just right and a team of Konoha ANBU came almost the moment he dropped the information. Though, occasionally, he miscalculated and had to wait for the ninja to pick it up. This just happened to be one of those times but the blonde didn't mind so much because he really did have to find that mission scroll, wherever he stashed it, and figure what exactly he was supposed to be doing. Fishing out the mission details from somewhere inside his cloak, Deidara opened the scroll and scanned it over. _Let's see…introduction, "Here is your next mission…" blah, blah, blah, succeed and all that crap…ah, here we go, "Mission Details." Hmm…oh, damn…_ The scroll read that Akatsuki were going to have one of their allies attack an outlying village of Konoha in order to bring some Konoha ANBU there. Deidara's objective was then to try and capture one of the ANBU and bring them back _alive_ to Akatsuki's base. An easy mission as far as the blonde was concerned anyways. The problem was, the attack had already happened and Deidara had pretty much just failed his mission. He doubted the ANBU were still there; by now they've probably finished their investigation and Konoha had probably sent some jounin and chuunin to finish up. _Well, shit! What am I supposed to do now? Tell Akatsuki I didn't get there in time? They probably wouldn't believe me. Or worse, they'll know I didn't pay attention when the mission was assigned…damnit all…I guess I should just go there and hope there's still a couple of those freaking ANBU hanging around. And if not…pfft, I'll think of that when it comes to that. Though…I probably shouldn't just leave that scroll here…damn…I'll have to take it with me and come back. Just what I love to do…and speaking of the scroll…if I'm helping Konoha how is capturing one of their ANBU supposed to work? Damn…working for two sides is impossible. Ugh, I'll decide that when I get there. _With that Deidara sprang down from his perch, collected the scroll, and headed back to the village he had passed earlier.

Deidara made his way back to the village without any trouble. By this time most of the smoke had cleared out as well as many as the people he had seen earlier. He had also been right; as the blonde scanned for ANBU he could only find mostly jounin with a few chuunin scattered here and there. Deidara folded his arms and debated whether or not to go into the village and see if there were any ANBU hiding anywhere. He was one-hundred percent certain that Akatsuki would be unwelcome here, especially since what just happened so he couldn't really just walk right in. He could stash the cloak, and maybe the ring, a safe enough distance away from the village and walk in that way but no, he still had his hitai-ate that he refused to take off and besides, Pein would probably find out if he did or worse, Tobi, and then he'd be screwed. He could just mask his chakra and lurk in the shadows but that really wasn't his style and honestly he didn't really feel like doing it at the moment.

While still deciding, the blonde Akatsuki suddenly felt a chakra presence somewhere behind him and tensed slightly. _Now there's an ANBU. Maybe I don't have to fail this mission after all…_ Quickly he masked his chakra hoping whoever it was didn't detect him yet, or if they did that they hadn't yet figured out exactly what kind of shinobi he was. He knew the other ninja had sensed his presence when they masked their chakra as well. _Lucky me there's only one…for the time being. This should be simple. _He quickly retreated back towards the forest and stuck his hands in his clay pouches letting the mouths infuse some of the clay with his chakra. With a few C1 bombs at the ready he waited for his opponent to show.

After about a minute Deidara was thinking maybe it was time for plan B as said opponent seemingly had the same idea as he did; wait for the other to make the first move. Though, he really didn't want to start blowing things up this close to the village, more ninja might come and that would mess things up. He decided to lead his opponent farther away from the village. Of course, this meant giving up his position, but whatever, he could still win this easy. He unmasked his chakra slightly and almost immediately three kunai whizzed towards him. _Let the battle begin._

* * *

Sasuke wandered through the village. _Whatever happened here it must have been a hell of an attack, just look at this place!_ The village had been completely decimated. A number of bodies, all mangled, littered the streets. Pretty much all the buildings and houses in the village were destroyed as well. _Yeah, most definitely the work of Akatsuki, too bad the last information scroll didn't say anything about this…probably a last minute decision of Akatsuki or something. _

Try as he might, Sasuke couldn't seem to find any trace of the said Akatsuki member who was supposedly there. The responses he had received from his squad so far only confirmed that there was no Akatsuki lurking around. And why would they? Sasuke wandered outside the village and sighed, this whole mission was just a big waste of time. Time he could be using to train or something like that. As he was walking around the outskirts of the village, Sasuke suddenly sensed an unfamiliar chakra presence that quickly flickered out. _Shit, that was _definitely_ not a Konoha nin. In fact, it felt more like…damnit! So Akatsuki was here! Ugh, and whoever it was probably sensed me first just great. _Sasuke quickly masked his own chakra and cautiously made his way towards where he thought he had sensed the other ninja. He didn't go directly there though, no, that would be too easy. His opponent would probably expect that. Said opponent would also probably expect him to react right away and attack so for the time being the Uchiha just decided to wait and see what the other would do. After a little bit though it became apparent that the other had the same plan as no attacks came. Sasuke was contemplating on what to do next when suddenly a chakra presence flickered some thirty yards to his right, off into the forest. Quickly, before he could let the presence fade away again, Sasuke pulled out three kunai and sent them in the direction of his opponent. The _thump thump_ of the kunai hitting something hard and solid told the young ANBU captain that the kunai had not reached his enemy and instead lodged themselves into a nearby tree. He felt his opponent moving farther away and instantly realized what was going on.

_Trying to draw me away from the village…hmm…I wonder…unless…oh, whoever it is doesn't want me calling up reinforcements probably. _Sasuke figured he probably should call his team, tell them to get their asses over here and start helping out but by that time he might end up losing the Akatsuki member. And besides, it was just one Akatsuki member, just one S-class ninja. Sasuke was S-class too and if it was only one Akatsuki he was sure he could take the member on by himself. It might be a hell of a battle but hey something to make things interesting. Calling the others would only make it too easy as well as take too much time. With that thought in mind the Uchiha activated his Sharingan and chased after his new opponent.

* * *

_Alright, he's following me, now where to go…aha! _ Deidara dropped down to a semi-clearing in the area and hid behind some bushes. Then he started debating with himself over what to do. Really, he didn't want to capture this ANBU, it would only mess up Itachi's plan later (though the blonde really hadn't agreed with that part much) and plus, it would make leaving the scrolls around Konoha harder since, if he did capture one of their ANBU they'd probably beef up security. Then he might not get away undetected all the time and that would be a problem.

On the other hand, if he didn't bring back the ANBU he would sure have a hell of a time explaining it to Akatsuki. They would be pretty upset if he failed such an easy mission like this one, well, easy for him in any case. They might even start getting suspicious again and even though Deidara was pretty sure they weren't suspecting anything about the scrolls lately you really never could tell with Pein and Tobi. He wasn't sure which would be worse, wrath of Konoha/potentially Itachi and possible failure to a sensitive mission or the wrath of Pein and Tobi plus maybe the entire Akatsuki. At the moment though he was thinking he better think of something quick because that ANBU was getting closer and would be there any minute. Maybe, if he made it look real enough, he could "fail" the mission. He'd probably be lectured to no end by the Akatsuki leaders but they wouldn't be suspicious. And he wouldn't be hurting Itachi's plan either. Yeah, he'd just battle this ANBU for a little bit, maybe let his opponent get in a few blows to make the story believable, then just make an escape or something. Simple. Hearing the other ninja land, Deidara knew his time was up. Masking his chakra to confuse the other he began.

"Well, it certainly took you long enough to get here. Did you lose your way or something, un?" He suddenly asked his opponent.

For a while, the ANBU didn't respond as if trying to tell from the direction of Deidara's voice where exactly he was hiding. Then "At least I'm not the one running away."

"Heh, running away? Is that what you Konoha ninja call tactic? I'm amused, un."

"Then why are you hiding?"

"This is not hiding, it's called 'strategically placing yourself so the enemy can't find you.'" and with that Deidara sent one of his C1 spiders towards the ANBU, detonated it, and switched to another place.

The other merely jumped away from the blast as if it was expected, which was exactly what Deidara had expected his opponent to do. Even if the ANBU hadn't moved the blast was hardly enough to startle him.

"It seems like hiding to me" was his answer.

"Tch, well, you _would_ call it that. Apparently Konoha ninja don't know good strategy when they see one, un." Another blast. This time it was returned by a few shuriken heading in Deidara's direction. Not having enough time to dodge the incoming weaponry, the blonde's only choice was to pull out a kunai and deflect them all. Doing so however also alerted his opponent to his position.

"So that's where you are. Why don't you come out so we can have a real battle?"

"Real battle? I'll show you a real battle, un!" _I'm going to have to use more force than I thought. _Deidara quickly changed his chakra level to C2 and tossed more bombs in his opponent's direction. The other only dodged again and sent some more weapons towards the blonde. These were different from Deidara had seen before however; they appeared to be senbon but after a passing one that the blonde had failed to block completely scratched his cheek they seemed to be different from normal senbon. They seemed more…electrical…_So he's a lightning style user eh? Not good, time to get serious. _

Deidara stepped out from his hiding place to get a look at his opponent and was surprised by what he saw. _The…Sharingan? Itachi? No, this kid is definitely not Itachi. Kid…wait a minute ANBU…kid ANBU? Ugh, that means he's good. Who is he though? Itachi mentioned something of a younger brother…is this that kid? Damnit…if he's Itachi's brother this definitely isn't good. _

"So you did decide to come out"

"Yeah, and you're going to regret it, un!" _Damn…let's hope this plan works.._

* * *

Sasuke had been glad when the Akatsuki decided to stop. At least he wasn't going to be lead on a wild goose chase. Kami, he hated those.

"Well, it certainly took you long enough to get here. Did you lose your way or something, un?"

His opponent suddenly asked. Trying to figure out where the voice came from Sasuke carefully answered "At least I'm not the one running away." If this made the other ninja mad he didn't show it. Or maybe he did, in any case, the Akatsuki's response was to through a low level explosive at the Uchiha and continue on with what Sasuke assumed to be was verbal manipulation. _So he uses explosives…probably a long ranged ninja. Shit, it's going to be hard to get close to him to land a blow. I'll have to play this smart. _

They had another exchange similar to the first and then the Akatsuki did something unexpected, he actually came out of wherever he was hiding. _Maybe he's not long ranged after all? _

Whatever it was, Sasuke took the opportunity to look his opponent o ver. This blonde haired kid wasn't much older than he was probably. And he was in Akatsuki which made him a threat. _Damn, I'll have to put more into this battle than I thought. _"So you decided to come out."

"Yeah, and you're going to regret it, un!" The blonde responded and threw a bunch of what were probably explosives, made of, clay? _Weird substance to use…wonder why he uses that…hm…and judging by his hitai-ate he's from Iwa which means he's probably an earth style user. All I have to do is make sure to use my lightning style and I'll be good. Provided I can get close enough to hit him. _

The clay figures detonation snapped Sasuke out of his thoughts. He managed to get away but a little late as one of the explosives hit him on the way. The Uchiha was blown back a few meters giving his opponent time to create more bombs. Sasuke was wondering how he did it so quickly when the explosives obviously weren't pre-made. Observing a bit more closely he noticed the mouths on the palms of the blonde's hands. _Is that how he does it then? Interesting…must be some sort of kekkei genkai or something. _Sasuke barely had time to contemplate this though because his opponent threw some more explosives towards him. And these ones seemed to be better than the last.

Sasuke quickly dodged, pulled out his Kusanagi, and dashed towards the Akatsuki trying to land a blow.

* * *

**A/N: That's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed! And I hope the POV changing wasn't too confusing. I wanted to tell things from both Sasuke's and Deidara's perspective. Please R&R.**

**Special thanks to April for the reviews! And also to my brother, the brat, I may have given up on this chapter if it weren't for him u.u  
**

**Suggestions are welcome! I may just be able to fit your idea into the story ;)  
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**Japanese Reference:  
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Dobe = Idiot (slang)

Baka = Idiot

Kami = god

Hitai-ate = Forehead protector

Gomen = Sorry/I'm sorry (informal)

I think that's it...if not, let me know please!


	4. Dilemma

**A/N: Alrighty! Here's the next chapter! It's not as far as I would like it to be...but I guess I do have to go through this part otherwise the next chapter might not make any sense! I really wanted to do some stuff about Deidara's past and the part with Itachi..but I just couldn't fit it all in. Hopefully some of that will be coming out next chapter!**

**Sorry for any OOC-ness in advance; I do my best to keep them in character!  
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**Deidara says I still don't own Naruto or any of the characters in this fic :P  
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**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Four: Dilemma**

* * *

Sasuke thrust his light sword towards the blonde just barely missing. The other, in turn, tossed more explosives Sasuke's way. The young Uchiha once more dodged and jumped back a bit looking for another opening; another chance at a blow. Sasuke was getting tired of this, he really was. However many exchanges they had already had like this the ANBU captain just couldn't tell. But they had been at it for at least a good fifteen minutes and it was beginning to show.

_Damn, he is long ranged after all. Definitely not my day. _It wasn't like Sasuke couldn't battle long ranged, it just wasn't his style. He preferred being able to get in close so he could dismantle his opponent with his Kusanagi or Chidori. The problem was, every time he got close enough, the Akatsuki just moved out of the way. The blonde kid was fast, faster than Sasuke had expected originally and it was taking all he had just to keep up with the young Akatsuki at the moment. _Maybe it's time for a change of tactics…_

Though he preferred to get in close Sasuke was not by any means confined to that distance. He could use his Chidori Senbon…then again when he had tried it earlier the blonde had merely deflected them like they were nothing. The young Uchiha would need to have deadly accurate aim in order for those to work. And while generally Sasuke could hit his target he decided that he may not want to risk it and waste the chakra considering this was no ordinary opponent who had already proven himself beyond Sasuke's expectations.

Sasuke ran his various other options through his head. He did have his Katon jutsu, though they wouldn't be as effective as any of his Chidori variations. But, considering, they would probably be better than trying to use any of his more powerful, chakra exhausting Sharingan techniques or, for that matter, any of his other Chidori techniques beyond the senbon.

_At any rate it can't hurt to try it once and see his response. After all by now he may think I'm only limited to lightning style which could be to my advantage. _While Sasuke had been thinking these matters through his opponent had not been idle and now sent a myriad of smaller yet deadly explosives towards the Uchiha. Sasuke leapt out of the way only a second too late and was blown back by the bombs. Luckily, he had gotten away from the worst of it but the blast had still been enough to knock him off his feet. He heard his opponent draw slightly nearer. _This may be my chance…_

"Well, had enough yet? You're obviously having a hard time keeping up with me; maybe it would just be best for you to give up already, un."

Sasuke was angered by the insult but decided it would be in his best interest not to let it show. Besides, the Akatsuki had no idea what he had planned next.

"I'm only getting started" was the ANBU's reply and with that Sasuke leapt up and immediately slashed at the other with his Kusanagi. The blonde realized his mistake and tried to move out of the way but not quick enough as the blow landed. He had gotten into Sasuke's range and the Uchiha was going to make sure he made use of every second of it. Sasuke smirked because although he knew the injury was nowhere near fatal or anything it was a start. And it gave him more time to collect himself and think of his next move; which happened to be a Fireball Jutsu only seconds later. However, once the effects of the jutsu cleared away, Sasuke was surprised to see that the blonde was nowhere around.

"Hey, ANBU kid, I'm up here, un."

Sasuke turned his gaze upwards and saw that the blonde had made some sort of bird out clay and was now out of reach. The young Akatsuki then threw some more explosives towards Sasuke but for some reason they seemed slightly weaker than before. _Damn, now he's really out of range. Though, at least I did get a blow in. And it looks like now he's going to have to change some tactics of his own. I've bought myself some time at the very least._

* * *

The whole time throughout the battle Deidara had been trying to remember what Itachi had said about his brother. Itachi wasn't one to talk much but Deidara was sure he had heard the Uchiha mention one or two things about his younger brother. _Now, what was his name again? Damn…maybe next time I'll try and pay more attention to these things…_

While Deidara thought, the younger Uchiha took a stab at the blonde with his blade. _Stupid, as if that would work. _Deidara thought while quickly moving out of the way and sending more C2 bombs off towards the ANBU. _This isn't working…_ if Deidara was to "fail" the mission he was going to have to do a little bit better. But knowing that he was now battling Itachi Uchiha's little brother was only making matters worse. Before he hadn't cared much if he did some harm to the ANBU; would make the story look believable after all while doing minimal damage. Now, however, he wasn't sure he wanted to really try and hurt the kid. And, although harm had never been his original intent, this kid was probably almost equal in skill level to him. Which meant that he was going to have to use higher level techniques to give his tale any credibility and also that there was a higher risk for doing more than just a few minor injuries to his opponent.

Deidara looked over to his opponent who seemed to be contemplating what his next move would be. Thinking things over for a minute the blonde decided to try sending a barrage of smaller explosives towards the young ANBU. _If they explode near him they should be enough to knock him off his feat without doing much damage…_

The young Akatsuki guessed right. Being engaged in thought the Uchiha hadn't had time to react quickly enough and was sent flying backwards. Deidara stepped closer to his opponent partly to make sure his bombs had done the job and partly because he was starting to get an idea.

"Well, had enough yet?" he called out to the kid "You're obviously having a hard time keeping up with me; maybe you should just give up already, un."

His words had the desired effect because after a quick retort the kid jumped up and once again made a move at Deidara with his sword. This time however, the blow landed. The blonde jumped back in surprise because though he had been expecting this from the Uchiha he didn't expect such a quick response. Deidara didn't have much time to think of this though since right after his opponent sent some sort of fire jutsu his way. As the flames started to engulf him, Deidara quickly made a clay bird and flew out of range of the Uchiha's jutsu. When he saw that the other was looking around for him the blonde called out "Hey, ANBU kid, I'm up here, un." _Sasuke, right, that's his name. I'll be sure to remember that. _Deidara remembered as he sent some more explosives towards the Uchiha.

By now however, Deidara was beginning to feel the effects of the drawn out battle. _Damn, what the hell am I supposed to do now? Hm, maybe if I'm lucky I won't have to do anything and I'll just run away if things get bad enough. Though I hate to do that…and Akatsuki would be pretty pissed…still, I guess it's better than giving up on Itachi's plan entirely. Tch, when did I become so concerned with all this anyways? Oh well, too late to go back really…_

Deidara's thoughts were interrupted when Sasuke sent some weapons up towards the blonde. Deidara dodged the incoming weapons and then flew his bird up a bit higher so that he was out of range of anything the Uchiha could possibly throw. Just then Deidara felt a chakra signature coming from behind. _What the…genjutsu? Damn! I've been far too distracted to notice when he even started that thing…stupid sharingan users…_

The blonde quickly turned around to block the incoming blow from the Uchiha. _Lucky I recognized it in time but now he's in close…this is bad…wait a minute, how the hell did he even get up here?_ But this did not remain in question for very long as soon after Deidara saw a large hawk fly by _Oh…a summon…should have known he could get something like that. Well, now I know he can get up to my level. I wonder what other tricks he has…_

For a brief moment Deidara wondered whether or not he should tell Sasuke that he was really on the Uchiha's side as well as Konoha's. _But he probably wouldn't believe me…really now…though if I mention Itachi he might. Then again, Itachi might be pissed if I mention him to his brother…_

Being distracted, Deidara failed to notice that Sasuke had been preparing a Chidori. Realizing this seconds before the jutsu hit Deidara was able to deflect the path of the attack so that it did less damage. Nonetheless, the blow connected and made a hard impact with the blonde's left shoulder and upper arm causing him to stumble back and gasp in pain.

_Damnit…ugh, I'm being careless…_ Deidara tried to regain his balance but it was difficult since he was still on his clay bird and the injury to his arm and shoulder was causing him immense pain. Not to mention he was really beginning to feel the effects of all the other minor cuts and bruises plus the injury from the katana across his stomach now. Before Deidara could completely get up again Sasuke was behind him with his katana poised across the blonde's neck.

"Now look, generally I would just kill you here and now but you can consider this your lucky day since I have orders to bring you back alive. So play nice and come willingly and I won't have to use more forceful tactics."

_Okay, this is really not good…come on Deidara…you have to think of something! Um…alright, maybe this can work…_

"Tuh, that's funny. In fact, I was ordered to do the exact same thing. So I can't exactly 'play nice' as you call it. Gomennasai, un!" With that Deidara detonated the clay bird underneath their feet. Both the Uchiha and the blonde Akatsuki went flying through the air; Sasuke landing on his summon and Deidara on a nearby tree branch.

_Ugh…not the most desirable get away but at least he's not pointing a katana at my neck anymore…ugh…damnit…_ Deidara raised his right arm and grabbed at his opposite shoulder. The injury burned and was bleeding profusely. The blonde was only glad that Sasuke had missed his original mark because if he hadn't the Uchiha ANBU would probably be taking him to Konoha right about now.

As Deidara tried to compose himself and prepare for another attack Sasuke jumped off his summon and punched the Akatsuki in the stomach making the blonde give up another gasp of pain and sending him flying off the branch. Deidara tried to angle himself to take the fall better but just couldn't find the strength and instead he ended up landing on his already injured shoulder, his head hitting something hard. As he struggled to get back up he thought he could make out the young Uchiha coming towards him, trying to tell him something but he just couldn't make out the words. The blonde fell back over and as his vision blurred in and out he made his decision.

"W-wait, Sasuke…your brother…Itachi…" _ugh…I don't know if I can do this…but I have to…_ "…Itachi…h-he has this plan…ohh…j-just listen…please…ohh…"

With that Deidara's vision blacked out completely as he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Sasuke had been pretty pleased with himself when his Chidori had finally hit. Albeit he missed his mark but it still hit hard enough to do some massive damage to the blonde kid. He had been even more pleased when he seemingly had the Akatsuki cornered. However, he had _not_ been expecting the kid to detonate his own form of transportation and he _definitely_ did not expect what had followed after.

After Sasuke had regained his own balance and knocked the blonde out of his perch, the Uchiha expected that he might be able to finally get this damn mission over with after he dragged the Akatsuki back to Konoha.

As the blonde tried to get up Sasuke said "It's no use, you're just about out of chakra and we both know it. So just come with me and we can end this."

The Akatsuki's only response was to fall over as his breathing became more ragged. _Probably didn't hear me…_ Sasuke thought as approached nearer _and he's also probably unconscious…_ But just then, the blonde lifted his head slightly and said "W-wait, Sasuke…your brother…Itachi…" _Wait, what the hell? How does he know my name? And Itachi…Itachi's dead!_ The blonde continued "…Itachi…h-he has this plan…ohh…j-just listen…please…ohh…"

Sasuke just stared in shock as the blonde couldn't finish whatever it was he wanted to say and instead slumped over in unconsciousness. _Itachi, is dead…right? I mean…everyone knows that! What the hell? Maybe that blonde is just trying to get on my nerves…_

But for some reason Sasuke just didn't think that was the case. After all, why would he say anything to the Uchiha about his brother if he didn't know something? Though, Sasuke really wasn't sure how Itachi could be alive. Everyone knew what Orochimaru had found out about the massacre of the Uchiha clan…the truth. And everyone knew that Itachi and Orochimaru battled over the secrets of the clan…in essence over Sasuke. And everyone knew both shinobi had been killed in the fight, right? It was the reason Sasuke had gone back to Konoha. Clearly, the blonde didn't know what he was talking about. Itachi was dead and that was that. But then, why would the blonde make such a desperate plea?

"…_Itachi…h-he has this plan…ohh…j-just listen…please…"_

Should he believe the missing nin? After all, it could be just a plot to escape or something. But then…the blonde had looked so…so…_desperate_ almost for Sasuke to believe him. Sasuke was pretty good on picking up lies he thought but he hadn't detected a hint of dishonesty in the blonde's face. Then again, the kid was Akatsuki, kami only knows what he was trained to do. Still, what would be the reason? The one thing keeping Sasuke from dismissing it as an ingenious plot to trick him was the motive. What could be the blonde's reason for telling him something like that? Surely he knew that Sasuke would probably not believe him right off the bat or even at all. And surely he knew that all that about Itachi. There was no gain for the other shinobi in any way that Sasuke could see so why say it? _Unless…he's telling the truth…_

All of Sasuke's ninja instincts were telling him not to trust the enemy, that this wasn't a wise decision, that he should just get on with his mission and dismiss it as nothing. But he just couldn't shake the fact that it could be true.

Sasuke glanced over at his unconscious opponent who was still bleeding from the wound on his shoulder as well as from the ones on his head and stomach. He sighed as he walked over and bent down to examine the severity of the injuries. _No harm no foul; I do still need to bring him back alive anyways even if I decide to turn him in later. Either way, having him bleed to death won't accomplish much of anything. _

The Uchiha frowned as he looked the blonde over. Then slowly, as if still unsure about what he was doing, he took off the Akatsuki cloak and set to work. Though Sasuke was no medic ninja he was an ANBU, an ANBU captain at that, and as such he carried a few emergency medical supplies with him just in case. Now he pulled out a few rolls of bandages, a couple cloths, and some alcohol beginning with the blonde's shoulder. When he had patched the blonde up to the best of his meager abilities he sat back and looked the kid over again. _Well, at least he's not bleeding anymore. _Sasuke was surprised still though that the blonde had not woken up. He didn't think the Akatsuki would be out this long. Though he had lost a lot of blood and still looked pretty pale. Without the Akatsuki cloak the blonde also seemed smaller; smaller than Sasuke had originally thought anyways.

As the Uchiha looked around he noticed that night was beginning to draw near. _I suppose I should move him and find a place to stay for the night. My team will probably freak out but they're ANBU, they can handle it. They'll just go back to the village and tell the Hokage who will give me a day or so and then start looking for me. Maybe. We'll see. Now…where can I find a good place to stay…aha…_ Scanning the area Sasuke found a cave a little ways off. He packed up his stuff and made a move to collect the blonde intending to leave behind the Akatsuki cloak. But, as a chill breeze blew through the air Sasuke noticed the blonde was shivering a bit so as a last minute decision he picked up the cloak and tossed it over the kid before picking him up and heading off towards the cave.

Once there he laid the blonde down and set up some traps around the cave entrance so that any ninja trying to sneak in would have a nasty surprise waiting for them. Then, after setting up a small fire to keep both the blonde and himself warm, he sat down on the opposite wall of the cave from where he had set the blonde.

The young Akatsuki still made no move to get up or anything so Sasuke figured he would probably be out for the night at least. Leaning back against the wall the Uchiha decided to try and get some sleep. He doubted the blonde would pose as much of a threat because even if he did wake up before Sasuke and try to do something he still had his injuries. They weren't altogether fatal but they weren't exactly minor either and Sasuke judged that it would take the blonde another day at the very least to really do much of anything. With that last thought on his mind he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

When Sasuke woke up he immediately turned to see if the blonde had woken up yet and relaxed slightly when he realized the other was still unconscious. Going over to check on him Sasuke noticed that the Akatsuki was still very pale and his breathing was ragged and uneven. Sasuke frowned as he removed the cloak he had used like a blanket to examine the blonde's injuries. They were no longer bleeding but still looked pretty nasty, especially the one on the blonde's upper arm and shoulder. And, as he examined the wound on the blonde's head he noticed that the young Akatsuki felt a bit warm. _Damnit…this isn't good…hopefully he'll just wake up soon…_

Sasuke sighed. He had enough of his own injuries to look after as well though they weren't quite as severe as the blonde's. He was still tired and sore from the battle yesterday and frankly wondered why he didn't just take the kid back to Konoha and get the damn mission over with already. But his curiosity had been aroused and he didn't want to miss out on the chance of getting some information about Itachi. So getting up, he decided he'd go look for some food. After all, he was getting hungry and he was sure the blonde would be too, once he woke up.

After coming back with some berries, water, and a couple of fish from a nearby stream the Uchiha sat down to prepare his food, cleaning the fish and getting ready to cook them. Now and then he glanced over at the blonde who was still unconscious but was stirring a bit. Sasuke almost began to feel bad for the kid. He had been a missing nin once too after all and he knew how hard it could be. He found himself wondering just what happened to the blonde to make him a missing nin as pretty much all the ones he knew didn't exactly make up their minds one day to just be rogue. The sizzling sound of the fish letting Sasuke know they had been completely cooked snapped him out of his reverie and as he pulled them out of the fire he heard a small moan from the blonde. Leaving his meal, Sasuke quickly moved closer towards the blonde to see if he would wake up.

* * *

"Ohhhh…ugh…" the young Akatsuki's eyes fluttered open and he looked around in confusion at his surroundings. Pretty soon his eyes landed on the young Uchiha who was sitting near him, staring.

"Uh…What's…going on…un..?" Deidara weakly asked the kid next to him. "Ohhh….nn…what…happened..?

"You're injured" was all the Uchiha responded. Deidara tried to look annoyed _duh_ he thought _anyone can see that…_but his face only twisted into a grimace as he let out another moan. _Damnit…my shoulder…ugh…_

"You said something about Itachi last night" Sasuke said. Deidara looked up, slightly surprised. _Oh…yeah…I did…I was going to tell him…ugh…_

"Nn…yeah…um…ugh…he has this plan see and…ohhh….nn…" Deidara answered as he struggled to sit up, his shoulder and stomach burning in protest and his head throbbing. Sasuke reached over and gently pushed the blonde back down. He then turned and picked up a plate of food which he held at an arm's length towards Deidara.

Deidara glanced at the Uchiha unsure of what to make of this until Sasuke said "You're hungry, right?" It was more of a statement than a question. Deidara only nodded and took a little bit of what was offered to him, eating slowly. In all honesty he wasn't too hungry at the moment but he figured he might be able to think better if he ate something.

Sasuke quickly finished his own food and turned to watch the blonde. After observing Deidara for a minute he grabbed a container of water and offered it to the young Akatsuki who gratefully accepted it, taking small sips of the refreshing drink. After he finished he glanced up at the Uchiha who was still only calmly watching him.

"S-so, you…wanna know about Itachi, un?" Deidara began feeling only slightly better "Nn…well…he uh…ohhh…" Deidara moaned again as a sharp pain suddenly racked through his body.

Sasuke only nodded slightly. "You need rest" he stated matter of fact like.

"…"

"Just tell me your name for now; we'll deal with the rest later."

"Deidara, un"

Sasuke nodded again. "Go to sleep" he said and got up to do something, Deidara wasn't sure what but he gladly obliged by settling back down to try and rest. _Itachi better be grateful. I have to deal with his stupid brother now. Oh and I forgot, Akatsuki will probably be looking for me soon. Isn't that just great? And here I am stuck with a Konoha ANBU about ready to tell him all our secrets and whatnot. Just perfect…I should never have agreed to this…too late for wishful thinking now though. I'm here…and I just have to go through with it._

With that the blonde Akatsuki drifted off into a somewhat fitful sleep.

* * *

Nagato paced back and forth, contemplating something as Tobi watched.

"Nagato, Deidara hasn't returned yet"

"I know, Tobi"

"It's not like him to take so long on such a simple mission"

"I know, Tobi"

"In fact, he's generally the one who always succeeds in missions"

"I know, Tobi" Nagato said, irritation clearly present in his voice.

"You seem distracted; worried about our little Dei-chan?"

"Shut up Tobi! I'm thinking" Tobi smirked, knowing he had hit the nail on the head

"I would be more worried about _why_ he hasn't come back yet than what could have happened to him"

"Don't go there again Tobi. We all know that was just a fluke. Nothing has happened since that one incident"

"Nothing until now"

"Damnit Tobi! Shut the hell up! He could be injured for all we know!"

"Maybe, but maybe not. Just remember, it's a possibility" and with that Tobi disappeared.

Nagato sighed. He was worried about Deidara. The youngest member of their group hadn't come back yet and Deidara just wasn't the type to fail missions, just like Tobi said. Tobi was also getting on Nagato's last nerves. Why he ever listened to Tobi in the first place was a mystery to him. He wasn't entirely sure he even wanted whatever Tobi was talking about anymore. Peace…peace indeed…weird way of inducing it that's for sure. As he turned to go back to his work he could only hope that Tobi was wrong about Deidara and that the blonde would be back very soon…very soon.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there's the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! Please, R&R!**

**Special thanks to all my reviewers! I really appreciate it; it gives me the strength to keep writing this stuff :P  
**

**As always I'm open to any suggestions you have!  
**

**Japanese Reference:  
**

****Gomennasai = Sorry/I'm sorry (slightly more formal than Gomen)

Kami = god

Chan = Japanese honorific generally used for young/teenage girls and very young children. Tobi uses it in an insulting sense here rather than a term of endearment.

Let me know if I missed any and I'll add them!


	5. Complicated

**A/N: Yay! next chappie! ^_^ And uh..I think I may be getting my taste for pairings back a bit...OMG WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? I WROTE SASUSAKU D8**

**Sakura: You mean, I get to be with Sasuke-kun? ^_^  
Sasuke: 0_o lolwut  
Me: ACK! I WROTE A PAIRING THINGY! T_T  
Deidara: Aw, it can't be that bad, un  
Me: YUS IT IS VERY BAD!  
Deidara: Just blow them up, un ^o^  
Sasuke: o-o  
Me: *freaking out*  
Deidara: ...I thought it was a good idea...Bria doesn't own any of the characters in this fic, un.  
**

* * *

**_These Times that Change_**

* * *

**Chapter Five: Complicated**

* * *

When Deidara woke up again the first thing he noticed was the burning pain in his shoulder and upper arm was still there. In fact, it had gotten worse if that was even possible. He looked up searching for Sasuke but the Uchiha was nowhere in sight. As the blonde struggled to sit up he noted that the pain in his stomach was also still present as well as the throbbing of his head. _Damnit…I feel like crap…ugh…I hope that Uchiha gets back here soon so that I can tell him about Itachi and be done with the whole matter. Ohhh…maybe I'll just go back to sleep…ugh…no! I can't…I said I'd tell him and the sooner the better…then I can get out of here…and go back to Akatsuki before they really suspicious…oohhh! _Deidara reached up to grab his shoulder and hissed in pain. _Ugh…where the hell is he?_

He didn't have to wait long however for pretty soon Sasuke came in through the cave entrance carrying a bag of something. He glanced over at Deidara, a look of slight surprise on his face that the blonde was up and said "Oh, you're awake."

_Apparently. _Deidara thought as he tried to calm his breathing enough so that he could speak clearly. "Mm, yeah"

Sasuke tossed the bag over into a corner of the cave and sat opposite Deidara. For a moment there was an awkward silence as the two shinobi just stared, looking each other over. Finally, Deidara broke the silence: "So, you want to hear about Itachi now I take it, un."

Sasuke lifted his head slightly and answered "If you would"

"Well," Deidara sucked in a breath and cringed a bit at the pain from his injuries "I suppose you know the truth about the massacre of the Uchiha clan now, un?"

Sasuke nodded and waited for Deidara to continue

"So then you probably know that Itachi never wanted to leave Konoha either. Good, leaves less for me to explain. Anyways, I suppose he was suspicious of Akatsuki to begin with. While he believed the ideals were good he never thought Akatsuki's way of accomplishing its objectives was, un."

"Which would be?"

"Huh? You mean why are they capturing all the bijuu? Well, Pein-sama has this idea that-"

"Who's Pein?" Sasuke cut in

_Geez he can be annoying _"Pein-sama is, or was the leader of Akatsuki, un."

"Was?"

"Well, he still is sort of, but now Tobi is a co-leader too, and-"

"Who's Tobi?"

"I'm getting to that! _Anyways_, like I was saying, Pein-sama basically had this idea that if Akatsuki could get all the bijuu then they could scare everyone into keeping peace. Like, the ends justify the means type of thing. But Itachi didn't think that was such a great idea, obviously. He also didn't think it was Pein-sama pulling all the strings. He suspected from the beginning that Tobi was more than everyone thought. So, he wanted to try and take out Akatsuki before they could do too much damage but he wanted to do it without causing mass destruction…or well, something like that anyways, un."

"He decided to do it from the inside because that way he could have more access to confidential information. But he also wanted to be able to get info from outside sources without Akatsuki hanging over his head. So he decided that I could stay in Akatsuki and get the needed information while he would be on the outside. It was in the battle with Orochimaru where he faked his death. And it worked perfectly because even Akatsuki thought he was dead, un."

"Almost immediately after that, his suspicions about Tobi became true; Tobi revealed himself as the true leader of Akatsuki. He was the one who had all the ideas for everything though, we still don't know his purpose though I hardly think it's peace like he keeps claiming. Anyways, he had everyone fooled until that moment except for Pein and Konan-sama-"

"Who's Konan?"

"The only kunoichi in Akatsuki and she's also Pein-sama's partner. Now just shut up and listen! They knew about Tobi because Tobi was the one who originally had them make Akatsuki. Everyone else just thought he was the annoying moron of Akatsuki until then. He had everyone fooled…"

Deidara trailed off a bit, his anger rising when he remembered how Tobi had tricked him as well. It was one thing to keep it from the rest of Akatsuki, but from his own partner? Sheesh!

"Ahem" Sasuke said, snapping Deidara out of his thoughts

"Oh, right, well, basically, after Tobi took over, he decided we needed to get the rest of the bijuu as soon as possible. And, according to Tobi, the only way to do that was to start a war. Don't ask me why, because I know you want to, I never could follow Tobi's logic and I'm not going to try. In any case, around that time Itachi decided we should start getting some more information and sending it off to Konoha to help with the war. Eventually, he was hoping to discreetly lead a bunch of ANBU to where Akatsuki's hideout is and then just, kill them. Or kill Tobi at any rate and anyone else who stands by him, un."

"Where is Itachi?"

"Hell if I know. He doesn't tell me. He only sends me messages with what to do next. And sometimes we meet up every once in a while but the place always changes so Akatsuki doesn't catch on, un."

"So, can you contact him?"

"I suppose…I've never really tried because it's always him telling me what to do. But I guess I could if I wanted to, un."

"Oh"

Sasuke was silent for a moment, thinking things over. Then he said "So, wait a minute, what does this all have to do with you?"

"What do you mean, un?"

"Exactly that"

"You mean, why am I helping Itachi? Because he asked, un."

"Why?"

"Because he knows I don't like Akatsuki either, un"

"If you don't like them then why did you join?"

_Damn he asks too many questions!_ "_Because, _they forced me to join and their ideas are stupid, un."

"How?"

"What?"

"How did they force you to join?"

"…Itachi did…un…"

"But that doesn't make sense, why would you help him then?"

"What are you? Master interrogator? I said I don't like Akatsuki, un"

"Hmm" Sasuke looked thoughtful. For some reason Deidara didn't think that Sasuke believed he was telling the whole truth, but the Uchiha didn't say anything else for the time being.

"Well, then" Deidara began "I've told you all about Akatsuki and Itachi. Oh, by the way, I suppose I can just give this directly to you now since you know everything, un." Deidara fished around inside his Akatsuki cloak until he found the information scroll from earlier and tossed it over to Sasuke who caught it and put it with his stuff.

"So, guess I can go now…" Deidara said, beginning to stand up. But the injuries which he had managed to endure while sitting suddenly burned all at once causing the blonde to gasp in pain and fall over, his breathing becoming more and more intense.

_O-ohhhhh…..nn…what happened? Ugh…this hurts so much…nn…_

* * *

Sasuke had been surprised when he came back and found Deidara awake and sitting up. And when the blonde had talked to him for a little while without much difficulty he figured maybe the kid's injuries were getting better. But when Deidara had tried to get up and leave Sasuke saw that the wounds were no better than before.

As the blonde fell over, he moved closer unsure of what to do exactly. He wasn't a medic and he wasn't exactly the type to comfort but he knew he had to do something; this looked bad. The kid was on his knees, trying to calm himself down but his breathing was becoming more and more ragged. Gently, he pushed Deidara over so that the blonde was lying on his back, eyes closed and face screwed up in pain gasping for breath. Sasuke grabbed the Akatsuki cloak that was still lying on the ground and placed it over the blonde.

"Just sleep" he said and Deidara nodded, trying to relax himself. Eventually, the blonde calmed down a bit and fell into a state of unconsciousness. As Sasuke watched Deidara fall asleep he thought of what he should do next.

Everything Deidara told him had been news to his ears. He was glad to learn that his brother was alive and wanted to see the older Uchiha but obviously that was going to have to wait. At least he had solved the mystery of who was leaving the scrolls around Konoha. And now he knew they were safe; that is, as long as the blonde was telling the truth. Though honestly, Sasuke saw no reason for the kid to lie to him, but still the doubt lingered.

That led his thoughts back on what to do with said blonde. Technically, he could just leave Deidara and let him fend for himself. He had no obligations to the other shinobi even though he was trying to help their village. But the blonde was in so much pain and Sasuke knew he probably wouldn't be able to survive by himself. Also, the Uchiha was feeling slightly guilty that he had been the cause of Deidara's suffering knowing that if the blonde had been out to kill him or something the battle would have been different. He also knew that while his blow hadn't been fatal, Chidori always did massive damage and really, Sasuke had only just missed. Plus, the katana wound on his stomach and the gash on his head weren't helping matters in the least.

Sasuke turned his gaze over to Deidara who shifted a bit and moaned in his sleep. His face was paper pale and twisted up in pain, his breaths short and uneven. Sasuke moved closer to check the blonde's injuries and didn't like what he saw. It seemed as if the wounds had gotten worse than they were the night before and both the one on Deidara's shoulder and his stomach had reopened and were leaking blood. He also noticed that the blonde was burning up with fever.

_Damn, this isn't good at all…what am I supposed to do with him?_

As Sasuke thought, he carefully re-bandaged the blonde's injuries and then replaced the Akatsuki cloak. He then got out a rag, wet it, and placed it on Deidara's forehead to try and bring down the fever a bit. The blonde seemed to relax a bit more after that but Sasuke could tell he was still in pain. Now the only question was what to do.

Sasuke knew they couldn't stay there much longer because, as he saw, Deidara was only getting worse. What the kid needed was a doctor, which Sasuke wasn't in the least. He thought of bringing the blonde back to Konoha; they would treat him. But they also might not believe his story as quickly and he could be subject to interrogation. Sasuke could try and explain the matter, but he doubted it would help. An Akatsuki is an Akatsuki after all, or at least the way Konoha saw it. Sasuke figured that Konoha might find out anyway with Itachi's plan and all but he didn't want to get in the way of things before it was time. Also, he really did want to find Itachi and the only way he could do that was if he had Deidara. So it was probably best not to get Konoha involved in this just yet.

But what could he do? The blonde really did need a medic. If he didn't get treatment soon it would be a downward spiral from there. _I could always ask…Sakura…she's a medic…and she'd probably help if I asked…maybe…_ Sasuke thought more on this for a moment. Would she? It was asking a lot; technically it could be counted as treason even though Deidara wasn't really working for Akatsuki. Sasuke wasn't quite so worried about himself; he could take care of that. But, for his young fiancé…he wasn't so sure the idea would appeal to her. Maybe he wouldn't…

Just then Deidara moaned in pain. Sasuke turned to see that the blonde was shaking and his breathing was even more labored than before, if that was even possible. _No, he needs a medic. I'll ask Sakura. I'll just explain everything to her. She's a compassionate person so maybe she'll understand…she understood me after all. _While thinking this, he grabbed the rag off the blonde's head, rewet it, and then replaced it noting that they were almost out of water. Sighing, he decided to go find some more and then pack up and leave for Konoha.

* * *

_Deidara stood outside in the snow in front of a burning building. "Okka-san!" the young blonde screamed and ran towards the house coughing as he got closer to the smoke. Suddenly someone grabbed him from behind, pinning back his arms. "Let me go! Let me go!"He shouted as he tried to kick at his captor. "Calm down kid, it'll be over soon" the man behind him sneered. Cries could be heard as a few more men came into view dragging a woman by her hair. "Ka-san! Stop it! LET ME GO!" Deidara managed to bring his legs around and kick the man holding him in the gut. "Shit" the man cursed and dropped the blonde. Deidara got up again and started running towards the other men. "Ka-san! Ka-san!" Deidara shouted. The woman turned to face him. "Deidara! Run, now! Go!" Just then, one of the men raised a heavy weapon as the blonde watched wide eyed. Then, he screamed._

* * *

"KA-SAN!" Deidara shouted forcing himself up. He then gasped in pain and grabbed at his shoulder slowly letting himself back down. _What happened? Ohhh…ugh….just a dream…come on Deidara…pull it together. _He hadn't had that dream in a while but the memory always haunted him. And now, his injuries were burning in pain. He noticed that Sasuke had left again. _Maybe…he just went this time…ohhh…ugh…after all…no reason for him to stay anymore….ohhh…._ The blonde let out another gasp of pain. _N-not like I expected him to s-stay or anything…nn…so cold…_

Deidara's vision blurred in and out and the world seemed to spin around him. _Ohhh…I can't move…nn…I…wonder if Akatsuki….will look for me…ugh… _Deidara thought he heard someone enter the cave but he couldn't lift his head up enough to see who it was. _D-damn…if it's an enemy, I'm screwed! Not like I'm not already fixed…ohh…_

* * *

When Sasuke entered the cave he noticed the blonde had woken up again. Making his way over to where Deidara was he bent down to try and explain what he wanted to do.

"Ohh…ugh…S-Sasuke?"

"Yeah"

"Ohh…nn…I thought you…l-left…nn.."

"I went to get water"

"Oh…" Deidara squeezed his eyes shut and started panting

"Deidara"

"Y-yeah?"

"I'm going to take you to Konoha"

"Huh? B-but I thought…ohhh…"

"Not to turn you in, you need a medic"

"Nn…but I can't go to Konoha…"

"We're not going to tell anyone except for one person. I have a friend who's a medic, she can help."

"But I…gotta go back…to Akatsuki….ohhh…"

"You can't go anywhere in this state"

"Akatsuki….th-they'll get….suspicious…"

"Stop trying to argue. You need a medic and I'm taking you to Konoha to get one."

"Ohhh…nn…fine…ugh…"

That was what Sasuke was hoping to hear. Of course, he could have just not said anything and taken the blonde to Konoha anyways. Not like Deidara really had much choice if he decided that. But he felt like it was unfair to take the kid somewhere completely different without letting him know first. _Damn, since when did Uchiha Sasuke care about being fair? To a kid I hardly know to say in the least…I'm really going soft…_

Sasuke got up and started packing the few things he had. Finishing that task he went over to collect the injured blonde.

"Ready?"

"Nn…I guess…ugh…"

And with that Sasuke picked up the blonde and headed out of the cave towards Konoha.

* * *

Sakura Haruno had been wandering around Konoha for about an hour trying to find Sasuke. _Damnit Sasuke…where have you gotten to now? _She was about to go back and check the training grounds again since she knew he liked to go there when Naruto found her.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted running towards her

_Great…now's not really the best time Naruto…wait a minute, maybe he knows where Sasuke is…_

"Hey Naruto!" She answered brightly "What's up?"

"Oi, nothing much, I just came to see if you wanted to get some ramen with me and Hinata or something"

Sakura mentally rolled her eyes. Everything Naruto did seemed to be related to ramen.

"Gomen Naruto, I'm kind of busy at the moment. Hey have you seen Sasuke around anywhere?"

Naruto scratched his head "Not for a couple of days…last I knew he was going to see Granny Tsunade about something"

_Maybe he got a mission then? Why didn't he tell me? _"Oh, arigato Naruto, see ya"

"Yeah bye!" Naruto said and ran off probably to go to his ramen.

_Well, I guess I can go see Tsunade-shisho and see if she can tell me anything…_

Sakura made her way towards the Hokage's tower and let herself in. She found the Hokage where she generally was; in her office with a mountain of paperwork.

"Oh, hello Sakura, what do you want?"

"Hi Tsunade-shisho, Naruto said that Sasuke went to see you a couple of days ago. Is he on a mission or something?"

"Yes, actually, he is. I'm afraid I can't tell you much about it though as it's rather classified."

_Well, I guess that explains why he wouldn't tell me about it…he still could have said where he was going._

"Oh, alright, do you have any idea when he'll be back?"

"Should be soon, actually, he should have been back a while ago…his team has already come back…" Tsunade mused to herself.

_Wait, a minute, Sasuke should be back? _A feeling of worry suddenly overcame Sakura.

"Shisho, what do you mean Sasuke-kun should already be back?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, don't listen to me Sakura. I'm sure he's fine, probably just got a little sidetracked"

"Okay…well, arigato gozaimasu Tsunade-shisho" Sakura said as she turned to leave. Tsunade only nodded and turned back to her work as Sakura left.

_Sasuke…where are you? _Sakura thought as she stepped out of the Hokage's building. Now she was starting to get really worried as millions of possibilities ran through her head, most of them not being pleasant. As Sakura began to walk off somewhere she suddenly ran right into someone.

"Oh, oh my, Sumimasen!" She then lifted her gaze upwards to see who she had run into and gasped "Sasuke-kun! _Where_ on earth have you been?! I was looking all over for you and then Tsunade-shisho said that you were gone but that you should have already been back and, I've been worried!"

"Gomennasai Sakura-chan. I was preoccupied."

"Alright, I understand, but why didn't you tell me you were going on a mission? I know it was classified and all that but you still could have told me you were leaving!"

Sasuke sighed "Gomen Sakura, really, I didn't have time, gomen."

"Humph, well, now that you're here go in and tell Tsunade-shisho and then come right back out. I have something to tell you so go on now!"

"I can't"

_Huh?_

"What do you mean you 'can't'?"

"I need to ask you something"

"So ask it after you tell the Hokage you're back"

"It can't wait"

"Then spit it out!"

"Not here"

"Why?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

_Just like Sasuke to answer a question with a question…_

"I guess so…"

"Good. I need you to come with me. The Hokage can wait; I'll talk to her later"

"Sasuke, is something wrong? You're kind of scaring me. What can't you tell me here?"

"Sakura it's important"

"_What's_ important?"

"Please Sakura-chan, just come"

_He sure is acting strange…._

Sakura narrowed her eyes "Fine, but then you need to tell the Hokage that you're back."

"I will"

The kunoichi sighed. "Alright, so where are we going?"

"To my house"

"Okay then…"

* * *

Sakura had always thought the Uchiha residence was an odd place. She almost didn't like the way it made her feel; so _quiet, _like you knew something bad was going to happen soon or something. But at the same time there was a sort of peace. It was a strange feeling. She knew it was most likely because Sasuke was the only one who ever lived there anymore and even he was rarely there for much more than early mornings and late evenings.

All the way there Sakura had been wondering what Sasuke could possibly have in mind that he just couldn't tell her earlier. As well as what could possibly make him miss giving the Hokage a mission report. Nonetheless, she followed Sasuke into his house as he led her to a room with a closed door and stopped.

"Well?" she asked

"Sakura…you have to promise not to tell anyone about this"

"I don't even know what 'this' is! How can I promise that?"

"Sakura…"

_What the hell could possibly so bad that he wants to keep it a secret from everyone?_

The pink haired kunoichi sighed "Fine, I promise"

"No matter what?"

"No matter what"

"Alright then…" Sasuke said as he opened the door and stepped into the room. Sakura came in behind Sasuke and then froze in the doorway at what she saw.

"Sasuke…what…how…why…..I mean…what's going on here?" She finally managed to get out. To say she was a little surprised would be an understatement. Lying on the bed was a young, blonde shinobi whom Sakura seemed to vaguely recognize from somewhere. He seemed to be in pain as he took in short, shallow breaths.

"It's a long story"

Sakura waited for Sasuke to go on

"The mission I was doing, he was my opponent. But then things changed. Can you help him?"

Realization suddenly hit Sakura like a ton of bricks. She knew who this shinobi was. Akatsuki. She didn't remember his name but she remembered seeing a glimpse of him back when Team Seven had gone to help Suna rescue the Kazekage. In fact, she believed this was the same blonde who captured the Kazekage.

"But, Sasuke…he's, Akatsuki!"

"I know"

"They're the ones we're at war with!"

"I know"

"They're the ones who want to capture Naruto!"

"I know"

"So, why?"

"Because he's really helping us"

"How?"

"He's been giving Konoha information on Akatsuki"

"Okay, that's great but he's still Akatsuki!"

"Itachi's alive"

"Huh? What are you talking about? I thought he was killed"

"Apparently not. Sakura, I promise I'll tell you all about it but he needs attention."

"But, Sasuke, he's the Akatsuki who kidnapped the Kazekage!"

"Sakura, please, just trust me"

_Trust him? I guess Sasuke wouldn't ask me to do something like this unless it was important…fine, but he owes me one hell of an explanation._

"Alright, let's take a look"

Sakura moved next to the bed where the blonde was. Up close he looked even worse as his skin was very pale and his body was shaking.

"Where is he hurt?"

"Left shoulder, stomach, and head. You should check his shoulder first"

Sakura nodded and began her work. What she saw shocked her, even as a medic nin. The wound on his shoulder was very bad. There was a lot of damage both internal and external. Sakura was also sure that it was infected despite the fact that it had been bandaged before and the blonde's shoulder blade was broken. The injuries on his head and stomach weren't much better though they weren't as bad as his shoulder.

As she began the healing process she asked "What did this?"

"I told you we had a battle. He got distracted and was hit by my Chidori."

"Chidori? Were you trying to kill him?"

"No, I was supposed to capture him. I underestimated the power of the impact."

"Oh…I see…what's his name?"

"Deidara"

"No surname?"

"He didn't give me one"

"Oh…"

Both were silent for a moment as Sakura worked.

"So, how exactly is he helping us again?" Sakura asked and as Sasuke told her, she began to feel some compassion towards the blonde. Albeit she was still not so sure she would trust him one hundred percent, but her merciful side won over and she decided maybe he wasn't as bad as she originally thought. Though, she did still have questions.

"So, what was he doing helping Itachi?"

"He said Itachi asked him"

"Yeah, you said that already, but, why?"

"He doesn't like Akatsuki"

"But Sasuke, you said that he said Itachi was the one who made him join Akatsuki. I don't get it…"

"He never specified. I told you everything he told me Sakura. I don't know any more than that."

"Yeah I know…So, what are you going to do with him after this?"

"I'm not sure. I'm not going to take him to the Hokage though."

Sakura sniffed. Even though she felt bad for the blonde she didn't necessarily think that he shouldn't be brought to the Hokage. He was still a rogue after all even if he wasn't with Akatsuki, right?

"Sakura…"

"It's not that I don't trust you or anything Sasuke, but how do we know he's telling the truth? How do you know he's not just a really good liar?"

"I just do"

"Well _that's_ real helpful"

"Sakura, he just doesn't seem like the type. I can tell. He's not a bad person. Trust me."

Finishing up her work Sakura sat back a bit.

"I do…it's just…I'm worried"

Suddenly, Sasuke was behind her.

"Sakura-chan…I'll be fine"

"Promise?"

"Promise" he answered and kissed her lightly.

Sakura sighed.

"Ok, well now, I've done my best with him but…I don't know…his injuries are pretty bad…"

"Hmm…so you mean…"

"I haven't been able to heal him completely…I guess we'll just see how he does…"

* * *

A soft moan escaped Deidara's lips. He could tell that he was now lying on something soft and comfortable. And his injuries, though they still burned, seemed a little better than before. The blonde slightly opened his eyes and tried to take in his surroundings. _Ohh…where am I? Did that Uchiha kid get me back to Konoha? _He looked around a bit and saw there was a pink haired girl sitting next to the bed. Deidara felt like he should know her from somewhere but his dulled senses just couldn't figure it out at the moment.

He looked over a bit further and saw Sasuke. He was talking in a low voice to the pink haired girl about something Deidara just couldn't make out. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his shoulder. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to deal with it but it was too much.

"Ohhh…." He moaned. Sasuke and the girl stopped talking. He heard the girl say something to Sasuke and then she placed a hand on his forehead. Deidara's eyes fluttered open again to find the girl looking him over anxiously.

"You're awake" the girl said softly.

"Ohhh…where…nn…"

"We're at my house" Sasuke spoke up

"Ohh…what…I…ohh…nn…"

"Shh, just relax" the girl said. Her hand started glowing and Deidara felt a short burst of relief as the healing chakra flowed through his system.

"Ugh…who…are you?" He managed to ask the girl

"Sakura. I'm a medic and I'm helping you. Now just rest." She answered. _Sakura…I feel like…I should know the name…ugh…. _However, Deidara didn't think much about this and instead obliged by laying back and closing his eyes, drifting off into unconsciousness.

* * *

Sasuke stayed back a bit as he watched Sakura flood the blonde's system with some healing chakra.

"Well…how is he doing?" he ventured

"Alright I guess…he needs rest. I can't do anymore for him right now…we're just going to have to wait and see I suppose."

Sasuke nodded and both Sakura and he left the room to allow Deidara some time to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: And, done! I got to do part of Deidara's past in there too, yay me :3 And yes, I wrote in Sakura's (yuk) POV. And yes, I added fluff or whatever the hell it's called -_-**

**WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME? D8 I'm beginning to think pairings aren't so bad after all..._  
**

**Please R&R :3  
**

**Japanese Reference:  
**

****Sama = Lord/Lady  
Okka San = Mom. Formal, more equivalent to 'mother'  
Ka San = Mom. Less formal  
Chan = Japanese honorific generally used for young children and girls  
Oi = Hey  
Arigato/Arigato Gozaimasu = Thanks/Thank you  
Shisho = Teacher/Master. Used for those who teach one of the Japanese arts or Martial Arts.  
Sumimasen = I'm sorry. Formal. Sakura uses it here before she knows it's Sasuke.  
Gomen/Gomennasai = Sorry/I'm sorry. Informal  
Kun = Japanese honorific used for young boys/teens. Also a term of endearment from a lover or childhood friend.

I believe that's all...let me know if I missed any and I'll ad it! (Wow...I sure used a lot this time o-o)


	6. Reality and Appearance

**A/N: Well, here's the 6th chapter of times! I had sooo much fun writing this one...maybe a little too much! I feel like my chapters keep getting longer every time I post them...I just keep wanting to add more and more! I hope they're not beginning to get too rambly o-o**

**Anyways, I suppose that this is as close as I'll ever get to writing any DeiSaku; if you can even call what I wrote that. I just love making Sakura and Dei argue...  
**

**Also, this chapter would probably have been 1,000 words less if I hadn't added in the part with Konan...but I just love Konan and the chance to put her in this was just too tempting.  
**

**Well, enough with my rambling! Again, I hope the characters aren't too OOC as I do my best to keep them in character.  
**

**And I still don't own any of the characters in this fic (sadly)  
**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Six: Reality and Appearance**

* * *

_Just my luck to have to be stuck here with __**him**__, tuh, though, I suppose I did have a choice…man…_ Sakura sighed to herself as she wandered through various rooms of Sasuke's house. She had been in pretty much all of them already but with lack of anything to do she decided to explore a little bit. After all, she was bored.

Sasuke had left to go give his report to the Hokage. Sakura wasn't sure what the hell he was going to say but she knew that Sasuke could handle himself so she wasn't too worried. But she was unhappy about being left _alone,_ at the Uchiha residence, with a rogue shinobi she barely knew and who also happened to be the kidnapper of the Kazekage. Not that she thought she couldn't handle herself; she just didn't like the idea of having only him for company. However, she had promised Sasuke she would stay and watch the blonde so stay she would. And besides, she _did_ have a few questions she wanted to ask him, once he woke up.

Speaking of said blonde, she probably should go and check on him. Sighing again Sakura turned and made her way back to Deidara's room. Upon entering, she saw that the blonde was still sleeping. Quietly she made her way to the bed to check his injuries. They still looked pretty bad to her but she noticed Deidara was resting more calmly now than when she had first seen him and his breathing was more even, though still labored. Carefully placing her hand on his forehead she realized he still had a fever. Sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time Sakura got up and left the room, returning only a short while later with a bowl of cold water and a cloth. Sitting down next to the blonde she placed the cloth in the bowl, wrung it out and then placed it on his hot forehead. Almost instantly she could sense his body relaxing at the soothing cool touch of the wet cloth.

As Sakura looked down at the blonde's pale sleeping form she began to feel some pity towards him. In his current condition he didn't seem like a powerful member of what was probably the world's most terrifying criminal organization. He just seemed so, _helpless_, so _alone_, so, _weak_ and it was enough to win her compassion, at least for the moment. Sometimes Sakura thought she was too soft.

Sakura tried to remind herself that this was her enemy. Even if he had been helping Konoha or whatever he was still a rogue shinobi and (ex) Akatsuki who probably did horrible things and deserved to die or be locked up for life, right? He did capture the Kazekage after all. But, at the moment, she just couldn't feel much hatred towards the blonde.

Absentmindedly, she brushed back his bangs as she moved to rewet the cloth he had quickly burned through. On replacing it, the blonde shifted a bit in his sleep and let out a small moan, slightly opening his eyes. Sakura quickly retracted her hand as she noticed her patient waking up.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked

The blonde turned to meet her gaze. Cringing a bit he replied "Better than earlier, un."

"Hm, how's your shoulder?"

"Hurts, but most everything does right now, un."

"Hm" Sakura tapped her chin as the blonde grimaced and pulled himself into a sitting position. "Well, your injuries are still pretty bad. It's going to be probably another week before you're completely healed."

"Well that sucks, un." He answered as he leaned back against the bed.

Sakura only nodded. She was wondering how he could be talking so easily in his condition when she noticed the sweat glistening off his pale face and the shortness of breath. She guessed that the blonde must just have the ability to ignore pain when he needed to. Reaching out she gently pushed him back down onto the bed and replaced the wet cloth. He glanced up at her with a look of slight surprise on his face.

"You're still not too well." She explained "You need a lot more rest."

The blonde cringed in pain and nodded. For a moment they were both silent until Sakura said

"Deidara, right?"

"Huh?"

"That's your name?"

"Oh yeah…"

"Are you hungry at all?"

"Um, a little I guess, un."

"I'll go see if I can find you something" and, after saying this, Sakura got up and left the room to get something for the blonde to eat.

* * *

Deidara watched the kunoichi leave the room, still not able to get rid of the feeling that he _knew_ her from somewhere before. But he still couldn't remember just who she was or when he had ever seen her. Groaning a bit, Deidara reached up and grabbed his injured shoulder. It still hurt a whole lot. And though he had expected to be out for a couple days he couldn't imagine a week. He didn't know what Akatsuki would do if he had been gone that long with no communication whatsoever and he didn't want to think about it.

Vaguely, he wondered where his Akatsuki cloak and ring were but looking around he saw the cloak was draped over a chair on the opposite end of the room and his ring was on the table next to the bed. He also saw that all his weapons, scope and clay were on the floor next to the Akatsuki cloak. He was about ready to close his eyes to rest for a bit when suddenly he found himself wondering where his hitae-ate had gone to since he obviously wasn't wearing it. When he couldn't spot it in the room he began to panic slightly. After looking a bit more however he saw that it must have just fallen off the table or something since it was on the floor next to the bed. Letting out a sigh of relief he reached down to pick it up wincing as pain immediately shot through his shoulder and stomach.

Quickly retracting his arm he lay back onto the bed and started panting. _Ugh, that girl…Sakura, was right…these injuries still need to heal quite a bit…ugh, I guess I can just ask her for the hitae-ate when she gets back…_

Presently, Sakura entered the room with a bowl of something. As she approached she said "I hope you don't mind instant soup."

"It's fine, arigato, un" Deidara answered as he sat up while Sakura handed him the soup. Little did she know it was probably the first real, hot meal the blonde had in months.

Sakura sat down in the chair next to the bed while Deidara began slowly sipping his soup. For a few minutes all was silent minus the sounds of Deidara quietly eating. Once he had finished Sakura took the bowl and placed it on the table.

"Um, arigato…" _Damnit, where do I know her from?_

"Yeah"

An uncomfortable sort of silence hung in the air.

"Oh, um, if you don't mind, could you hand me my hitae-ate, un?"

"Huh, oh, where is it?"

"On the floor, un"

"Okay…" Sakura bent down to pick up the fallen item and then handed it to Deidara who quickly took it.

"Arigato gozaimasu, un." Deidara said and looked the item over a bit, running his fingers across the scratched out Iwagakure symbol and then breathing a sigh of relief. Sakura looked on with obvious interest and slight surprise on her face.

"What?" Deidara asked noticing the interest the kunoichi seemed to take in observing him.

"It's just…well, I don't get it."

"Don't get what, un?"

"I mean, why do you care about that anymore? A hitae-ate represents a ninja's loyalty to their village. And, um, well…I mean, aren't Akatsuki supposed to cut all ties with their former village? I mean…isn't that what the scratch through means?"

"A hitae-ate is also part or a ninja's identity, is it not, un?"

"I guess…but like…I mean, you seem to really care about it. I didn't think a rogue would care so much…I mean, you did leave your village, right?"

"Well, don't you seem to know everything, un" Deidara answered shortly.

Sakura's frustration showed. "I mean, you're rogue, so you don't have any ties with your village, right? A hitae-ate shows loyalty…"

"Exactly, un."

"But…"

"I don't want to talk about it, un."

Sakura sat back blinking a few times. She seemed to be trying to comprehend what Deidara had just told her. Deidara sighed inwardly to himself. _She just wouldn't understand…_

Still holding the hitae-ate in his right hand Deidara laid back a bit thinking and watching Sakura out of the corner of his eye. She still seemed preoccupied with her thinking. He turned his gaze back towards his hitae-ate and ran it over again with his fingers.

"So…why are you helping us again? I know what Sasuke told me but it's hard to believe that an Akatuski with nothing to gain would help us out if you know what I mean."

"If he already told you everything then you already have everything you need to know; I hate Akatuski, un."

"Didn't seem that way the last time I saw you, having a good time with your partner there in some sort of stupid argument."

_Wait a minute, she knows me too? And wait…my partner…Tobi? Oh, no…now I remember…_

"Hey, wait! You're that kunoichi who was with the old hag, un!"

"Chiyo-sama, show some respect baka! And yeah!" The "duh" clearly apparent in her voice "and you're the Akatsuki who kidnapped the Kazekage!"

"Tuh, it's not like I wanted to you know, un."

"You certainly didn't seem to care much. And then you killed him!"

"Oi, that wasn't just me. And it's not like I wanted to do that either. _You_ killed Sasori-danna!"

"That's different!" Sakura practically shrieked

"Yeah? How so?"

"He was an Akatsuki!"

"So?"

"So? So he deserved to die!"

"Why? How come he deserved to die and the Kazekage didn't, un?"

"BECAUSE!" Sakura said as if it was the most obvious thing on earth "He was bad! He did terrible things and he left his village!"

"And you're telling me the Kazekage _hasn't_ done terrible things too, un?"

Sakura's mouth opened and shut like she was trying to say something but nothing came. Eventually she settled on "Well, it's not like anyone really cared anyways. Hmph."

Now she struck a nerve. "What do you mean 'nobody cared?' _I_ cared! Sasori-danna was the only-" Suddenly he closed his mouth and didn't say anything. _Too much Deidara, too much. _Sakura leaned forward a bit but when she realized Deidara wasn't continuing she sat back again, arms crossed.

"Well, anyways, that doesn't matter. My point was that how are we supposed to trust _you_?"

"I don't ever remember asking you to trust me, un."

"Tch, but you asked Sasuke. I don't see why you're any different; you're probably just as bad as the rest of them!"

"And you're an expert on this, huh?"

"No! I mean….ugh! Everyone knows what Akatsuki do!"

"How is it any different from what _you_ do, un?"

"Hey! Don't even begin that comparison! At least I'm _loyal_ to my village!"

She was really pushing her luck at the moment and it was taking all Deidara had not to smack her across the face or something. "What difference is _that_ supposed to make? Don't tell me you've never ever killed just because you live in a village! And don't tell me you've never hurt any innocent people because even if you haven't meant to I'm sure you have, un."

Sakura squirmed a bit in her seat, obviously uncomfortable "Well, at least I'm working for a noble cause…"

"Tuh, noble cause?! You think that all the villages want is to help people all the time? Because I can assure you that most of them have alternate agendas. Even Konoha; you know why Itachi left so don't give me that look!"

"Yeah, well…it's better than whatever Akatsuki's trying to do!"

"_Akatsuki _only wants peace! And I'm not defending them because their ideas are stupid and all but I'm just saying that all the leader wants is to keep villages from fighting. And yeah, I know it's a bad idea and that it won't work and all that but I never said I _liked_ it!" Deidara paused for breath and then mumbled "But it's not like I had a choice or anything. And just because your village likes you doesn't mean that you're any better, un."

* * *

Sakura looked up, a slight look of surprise on her face and was silent for a moment. She was pretty sure the blonde hadn't meant her to hear the last part but she had. She wasn't quite sure what to say anymore. She didn't like the way all his talk was making her question herself. Everything had seemed much more black and white before; now this blonde was adding in shades of gray.

She looked over at Deidara for a moment whose eyes were fixed on his hitae-ate as his fingers traced over the metal. _Sasuke was right, he doesn't seem to be that bad of a person…_ Deciding to risk another question she asked slowly "What do you mean?" the anger somewhat drained out of her voice now replaced by curiosity.

Startling a bit, he looked up "Huh?" The blonde's faraway look told her his mind was somewhere else.

The thought crossed Sakura's mind that maybe this was not such a good idea after all but her curiosity got the better of her so she asked again "What did you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"Well, um, you were saying something about not having a choice…and your village not liking you…"

"Oh…" A look of hurt and sadness passed momentarily over the blonde's face as he quickly looked back down at his hitae-ate. It was so quick that if Sakura hadn't been paying attention she probably wouldn't have noticed it; and yet, even though it was only an instant, there was something about that look that tugged at Sakura's insides.

Deidara seemed to be contemplating the best way to go about this. He cleared his throat a few times but nothing came. Sakura didn't rush him. Her interest was piqued and she didn't want to waste any chances. "Well, um…you see…I uh…well, it was a while ago; it doesn't matter anymore I guess, un." He finally said quickly. But Sakura wasn't satisfied.

"Why doesn't it matter?"

"Because nothing will change, and anyways, nobody cares about it anymore, un."

"Why did you leave Iwa?"

"Huh? Why do you care?"

_Because you really don't seem like a bad person to me anymore…_ "I'm just…interested I guess. You're not like most rogues I've known"

Deidara looked up and his gaze met the ceiling. Finally, he turned back to look at Sakura. "Do you really want to know, un?"

"Yes"

"Hn"

He was silent for a moment and seemed to be turning over some thoughts in his head. "It was really stupid…" he began in almost a whisper. "I should have seen it coming…should have known better…but…I didn't…"

_What the hell is he talking about?_ Sakura waited for him to go on.

Deidara took in a deep breath "Nobody liked me. I was framed pretty much, un."

_Huh?_ "What do you mean?"

"I don't really want to talk about it, un." He didn't seem angry anymore, just sad.

"I won't tell anybody…" Sakura said softly. This blonde was really beginning to interest her and she wanted to know more.

He looked back at her, his pale ice blue eyes staring into her own jade ones. He just seemed so _sad_, so, so _alone_… He held her gaze for a moment then dropped it. "Well um, I um, well…" Sakura noticed that his pale skin was glistening with sweat and his body was shaking a bit. She then remembered that he was still hurt and should probably be resting.

"Do I have to tell you now? I just…don't feel like it…but later…I promise later…un…" His body started shaking a bit more and his breathing sped up. Sakura put a hand on his shoulder and felt the heat radiating off his body.

"Sure, whenever" she answered and pushed him back down on the bed. She then got out the cloth which had been sitting in the bowl and pressed it against his forehead, wiping the sweat off his face. She then placed the cloth back into the bowl and repeated the action a few times. "You should just rest now anyways."

The blonde nodded and closed his eyes. Sakura let the cloth rest on his forehead and looked him over, watching as he slowly drifted off to sleep. Something told her that whatever he was going to tell her later was not going to be pleasant and she felt sorrier for him than she had earlier.

* * *

Sasuke made his way to the Hokage's building taking as much time as he liked. He didn't exactly want to report to the Hokage but he knew he had to and putting it off any longer would just lead to more problems down the road. Along the way, he tried to come up with a believable enough story to tell.

Obviously, he couldn't say anything about having Deidara because then the Hokage would want Sasuke to bring the blonde to her. And he had already promised he wasn't going to do that. As far as the rest of the village knew, there weren't any Akatsuki around and he was going to have to keep it that way. He supposed his only option was to just say he had failed the mission. He knew the Hokage would be disappointed but that's just how life works sometimes.

Reaching the tower Sasuke jumped up and in through one of the open windows. He never had much of a thing for doors. Why waste more time walking through the door and up the stairs when he could make his way to the same floor he wanted to be on in half the time by jumping through a window?

Glancing down the hall he noticed the place was virtually empty as he made his way to the Hokage's office. He entered the room and found Tsunade bent over some paperwork or something. She hadn't even noticed him yet.

"Hokage-sama" Sasuke began.

Slightly startled she looked up a bit "Huh? Oh Sasuke? You're back finally. Well?"

"The Akatsuki got away"

"So there was one there then?"

"Hai, but he got away."

"Oh, too bad…" She seemed disappointed as Sasuke knew she would be. "Were you able to find anything else out?"

"Nothing about Akatsuki."

"But?"

Sasuke considered something for a moment before deciding. "I found another scroll."

"And?"

"I know who we're getting them from."

"Really? So are they truly trying to help us or was it a trap?"

"He's a friend."

"He?"

_Shit_.

"Hai, a shinobi."

"From where?"

_Double shit. _

"Well, he's not really working under orders from his village." Sasuke said trying to avoid the question.

"Which village is that?"

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!_

Sasuke thought for a moment. He supposed he couldn't see the harm in telling Tsunade which village the blonde was from; so long as he didn't slip any other information. It wasn't like the Hokage was going to be able to find him based off that alone.

"Iwagakure"

"Iwa? That's rather far…and they don't exactly like us much either."

"He didn't give me much information. But it doesn't seem like his village would be very pleased if they found out."

"No, no they wouldn't. Well then, can I meet him? I'm sure he's gone through enough trouble to try and get us all this information so I'd like to thank him. And also I have a few questions for him."

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably searching for an answer. "I don't think he would agree to it just yet. He seemed to want to try and keep it as secretive as possible."

"Well then it will only be you and me. You already know about him so that shouldn't be a problem and I'm sure he knows that you would tell me so that should be fine too. It shouldn't be too hard for you to sneak him into the village."

_If she only knew..._ "I don't know…he seemed adamant about it."

"Can you contact him?"

"…Hai…"

"Well then do it and ask at least. And that's an order. Oh, but you don't have to right away. I forgot you just came back from a mission; go take a day off and find Sakura. She was looking for you a while ago."

"Hai" Sasuke nodded and turned to go.

"Oh, and Sasuke?"

Sasuke stopped and turned his head back to the Hokage.

"Tell that shinobi that I'm not going to do anything to him. I only want to talk and it's not like he's an enemy or anything."

Nodding Sasuke slowly turned his head back and left the room, closing the door behind him.

_Just great. It's not like I can bring Deidara to her yet. I'm going to have to figure something else out._

As he thought he made his way back to his house. Entering he looked around and sighed. He didn't see Sakura anywhere but he knew she was around.

"Sakura? I'm back." He called out and went into the kitchen to sit down. Pretty soon he heard Sakura approaching.

"Oh hey, how'd it go with the Hokage?"

"Fine."

"Yeah, right. What happened?"

_Why bother trying to dance around it? _"She wants to see him" he said nodding off in the direction of the blonde's room.

"You told her he's here?"

"No. I told her that I knew who was leaving the scrolls."

"Well you should have known she would want to know more."

"I know. It was a risk."

"What did you tell her?"

"I said he was a shinobi from Iwa. So she wants to meet him now."

"I see. What are you going to do?"

"I need to talk to him. But I'll figure something out."

Sakura nodded and moved to make some tea.

"How is he by the way?"

"Alright I guess. We had an interesting conversation."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Really now?" _If he said anything like that to her…_

Sakura laughed lightly. "Not like that Sasuke-kun. We were talking about Akatsuki a bit."

Sasuke relaxed. "Oh, what was he saying?"

"Well, we were mostly just arguing. He seemed to think that we're the same. I mean, he was going on about how the villages don't really want to help people all the time and how all ninja are essentially the same."

"I suppose he's right" Sasuke said. Sakura turned to look at him with surprise on her face. "I mean, you know the five great nations were only originally founded to train more ninja for the feudal lords to use against other lands."

"True, but…we're not like them, are we? I mean, Tsunade-shisho isn't that kind of person."

Sasuke sighed "No, she's not. But it's not just up to the Hokage. We're also subject to the elders and feudal lord. I think what he meant was that many people see ninja as tools rather than people and use them in the same manner. Really Sakura, what Konoha does with their ninja isn't much different from what Akatsuki does with theirs. If you think about it, both use ninja to spy on people, both use them to kill, and both use them for personal gain."

"But…Konoha…"

"Has its demons too, though it would seem as we're one of the better ones. Sakura, I'm not saying that what we do is bad all the time but I think I know what he was talking about. Akatsuki has a noble cause too; just their way of going about it is wrong. Nothing's ever black and white. "

"I guess that makes sense. He seemed to wish that he was back in Iwa or something like that. It also seems that it wasn't his choice to be rogue; he mentioned something about Iwa not caring or something like that."

"That doesn't surprise me much."

"Huh? Why?"

"You probably don't know this Sakura but Iwagakure is known as one of the, if not _the_ most militaristic village out of the five great nations. Basically, they like everyone to conform and from what I understand they tell you what you're going to do, who you're going to be, stuff like that. They're not like Konoha. I've heard it's actually not that bad for most but he's different from many Iwa-nin. And I'm sure the kekkei genkai doesn't help."

"Kekkei genkai?"

"Haven't you seen his hands?"

"Well, yeah"

"I'm pretty certain that's a kekkei genkai, or at least related to one in some way. Besides that, he attacks with explosives and I remember hearing about a clan that used such attacks from Iwa. Also, when I was battling him earlier with my Sharingan I noticed he had two chakra natures. And you know that means he probably has a kekkei genkai."

"Oh. I don't get it though, why would that make much of a difference?"

"Many villages are afraid of those with kekkei genkai since they're generally powerful ninja. So that's one thing. The other is that, like I mentioned earlier, Iwa is a bunch of conformists. Quite honestly, I've never before known or heard of an Iwa nin that looks like him; he's the first blonde I've ever known about from Iwa."

"That's stupid."

"Stupid, but true. You can ask him yourself if you want. He probably knows better than I do."

"Well, that's just…awful!" Sasuke nodded in agreement. _A lot of places are like that really. I suppose we're lucky to be in Konoha. _

Sakura finished making the tea, set a cup down in front of Sasuke, took one herself and sat down.

"So, what did you want to tell me earlier?" Sasuke asked?

"Hm? Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to say that I think I found a good place for our wedding."

"Really? Gomen, I didn't mean to make something like that wait. Where?"

"No, it's fine Sasuke-kun, really. It's not like you could do much else anyways. But yeah, you know that place Kakashi-sensei took us for our first 'mission?' I thought it would be nice to have it there, you know?"

"It's a nice idea. Maybe we can go over later or something."

Sakura nodded enthusiastically and began chatting away about other things of a similar manner.

* * *

Deidara opened his eyes slowly moaning a bit and wondering when and if his shoulder would ever stop hurting as much as it did then. Looking around he noted that he had been asleep for a while since all the shadows in the room had changed. Wincing, he pulled himself up to a sitting position and wondered where Sakura and Sasuke had gone off to. Then he started to remember his conversation with the pink haired kunoichi.

_Well, now I have to tell her about sooner or later…I promised. Damnit, why'd I go and do that? That was stupid of me. But I guess there's no harm in it…just…what to say…_

He decided not to think about that for the time being and instead turned his thoughts back to Akatsuki. He was certain that they had missed him by now and probably weren't happy. He would have contacted them if it weren't so dangerous but he couldn't really help that. In any case, he knew he needed to do something about that soon. Just what was the question.

_Maybe I can just go back now. My injuries aren't healed but I could probably make it. Besides, I can rest more when I get back there. Akatsuki wouldn't send me on another mission until then, probably. Hm, well, I need to talk to Sasuke. _

Deciding that he didn't want to have to wait for the Uchiha to come Deidara started to get up to find him, his stomach burning in pain at the movement. He was able to manage it, though his head was spinning and his injuries hurt. However, he got up and made his way to the door, shutting it with a soft "click" behind him.

He looked both ways down the hall trying to decide which way to try. Honestly, he didn't know where he was so he wouldn't know where to find anyone. Just then, he heard someone talking a couple of rooms away so he started following the sound. Eventually he came to a kitchen and peeking in he saw Sakura and Sasuke sitting down discussing something. As he came in rather hesitantly both ninja looked up in surprise.

Sakura jumped up. "Oh kami, what are you doing up? You're injuries still aren't healed, you should be sleeping!" She gasped.

"Got tired of sleeping. Besides, I'm fine, see, un?"

Sakura shook her head and grabbed Deidara by his good arm. Deidara glance over at Sasuke who only looked on in slight amusement.

"You don't look that great to me. Sit down." Sighing Deidara obliged.

"Good" she turned to grab something. "Here" she said handing him a cup of tea. "Drink this. It's good for you."

Deidara gratefully accepted the tea and began drinking it slowly. Sakura sat back down and said "So, what compelled you to leave your room anyways?"

"I was bored. And I have to talk to you guys, un."

"About what?" Sasuke asked.

"Akatsuki. They'll probably be looking for me soon. I _have_ to go back or things are going to be bad for all of us, un."

"You can't go anywhere yet" Sakura jumped in "Your injuries still need time to heal. I told you earlier that's going to be a week at least."

Deidara turned to face the kunoichi. "Well, you're a medic right? If you're so worried about it, don't you have some sort of jutsu that can help or something, un?"

Sakura sighed "I can't. I'm sorry but your injuries are just too bad. That's why you can't go anywhere yet. You may be getting better but there's no way of knowing if things will stay that way. Travel is just out of the question."

"I'll be fine, really. You said so yourself that I only need more rest. Akatsuki…should allow that. Once I get back, un."

"You sure about that?"

"Do I have a choice? I'm telling you Akatsuki's going to get suspicious and that's not good!"

"He has a point" Sasuke cut in. Turning to face Deidara he asked "Is there any way you can contact Akatsuki and tell them something so they won't be looking for you?"

"I could, but it's risky here. Then they would know where I am, un."

"Hn" Sasuke thought for a moment. "I suppose there's no way around it then."

"Sasuke!" _Is this the same kunoichi from earlier? Didn't know she'd be so upset to have me go._

"Calm down Sakura. Deidara, I can take you back to where we battled but that's as far as I can go. You're going to have to go back on your own from there."

"Hai, that's fine, un."

Sakura sighed "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. I'll make some stuff for you guys to take with you." She said getting up and starting to pull out various items.

"Oh, I have something else I need to talk to you about" Sasuke said.

"Hm?"

"You probably wouldn't want to see the Hokage, right?"

"Uh, no. Why?"

"Because I told her I know who we're getting the scrolls from. And now she wants to see you."

"Oh…well, not yet. Eventually I'll have to I suppose but not yet. Just tell her that I'm busy or something and can't come now. Make something up. You're smart; you should be able to figure it out, un."

"Hm" Sasuke nodded.

"By the way, now that you know everything I guess I can just give the scrolls to you when I get them. So I'll let you know when I have another one or something. I know you want to see Itachi; maybe I can convince him to come too or something. Anyways, I'll let you know, un."

Sasuke nodded again "That would be good."

Deidara glanced over at Sakura "You can come too I guess. Since you also know. The more the merrier, un."

"We'll see" Sakura answered as she went about preparing whatever it was. "How do you plan on telling us when you have a scroll?" She wanted to know.

"Um, I'll figure something out. Probably send a bird or something, un."

Sakura muttered something under her breath but didn't say anything. Sasuke got up.

"When do you want to leave?" He asked.

"Tonight if possible, un."

"Fine. I'll go and get my stuff."

Deidara nodded and got up as well. "Alright, me too."

* * *

Deidara and Sasuke walked silently back towards where place they had their battle. Deidara was beginning to see what Sakura had meant about his injuries. His whole body was sore and achy and he kept feeling dizzy as well.

But Sasuke didn't rush and went at a slow enough pace to make it bearable for the blonde. When they got back to the clearing Sasuke stopped.

"Alright, here you go."

Deidara nodded "Arigato gozaimus, un"

"Hn. How are you going to get back?"

"I think I have enough chakra to make a clay bird so I'll fly. It's easier than walking, un."

Sasuke nodded. "Good luck with Akatsuki."

"Arigato, un"

Sasuke raised an arm up in a sort of half wave then turned back towards Konoha and leapt off into the darkness.

Deidara sighed and putting his right hand in his clay pouch molded a clay bird which he blew up until it was big enough for him to ride on. _Oi, I never told Sakura…hn, I'll see her again later anyways. I have to get back now…_ and with that thought he hopped up onto the bird and flew off in the direction of Akatsuki's hideout.

After flying for a bit Deidara began to feel the effects of his injuries again. His shoulder especially started to hurt and he was wondering if he should have just listened to Sakura anyways. But it was too late to go back now… _Come on…I'm, almost there…ugh…there it is! Just a little more…_ he thought as the world began to spin around him and everything turned to black.

* * *

Konan had been sitting outside the Akatsuki base watching the rain come down on the dark night. She had begun to wonder lately just what Pein and Tobi were up to. So many changes were happening with Akatsuki and the kunoichi wasn't so sure she liked it. Ever since Tobi had officially revealed himself to the whole of Akatsuki, and by extension the world, things seemed to be in a downward spiral.

She found herself wondering what all the other current members of Akatsuki were doing. She knew Pein and Tobi were inside talking about something. Zetsu…well kami only knows what he does when not on a mission. Kisame was probably out "having a good time" as he called it, whatever that meant. That left Deidara who was out on some sort of mission.

Actually, Konan thought she remembered Pein saying something about Deidara taking "a long time" which meant that he should probably be back by now. Absentmindedly, she wondered where the young blonde could have gotten to as he was generally pretty good about those things.

While thinking these things a person fell right in front of Konan. She almost screamed. Almost. Despite her stoic demeanor and the fact that she was not exactly the emotional type she was still pretty startled. After all, you get used to many odd things while working as a ninja but people randomly dropping out of the sky in front of you is not one of them.

When Konan recognized the person she almost screamed again. Almost.

"_Deidara?_ What- Are you alright?" She asked quickly jumping up. When she received no response from the blonde she concluded that he must be unconscious. She hurried over to the collapsed shinobi and saw that he was indeed unconscious. Taking him by the shoulder she tried shaking him awake.

"Deidara, get up. Come on, you should get inside." The blonde's only response was to let out a pained gasp. That's when Konan noticed that the boy's face was pale and he seemed to be in pain. She also judged by the heat radiating off his body that he had a fever.

She knew that he must be injured so quickly she tugged off the Akatsuki cloak just enough until she saw the bandages on his shoulder and stomach. _He's hurt…but how badly? Well, he made it back…I should take a look at the injuries…_ Konan thought as she carefully began to unwrap the bandage around his shoulder. _Oh, oh my…_ They seemed pretty bad. Albeit the blonde would live but she didn't know how on earth he had managed to get back to Akatsuki with those injuries. Rewrapping the bandage and pulling the Akatsuki cloak back up she tried to get the blonde up again.

"Deidara, come on. Wake up. Deidara please, you need to get up." The blonde moaned a bit and slowly opened his eyes. He seemed confused for a moment but then his gaze met Konan's and he seemed to begin to remember what he was doing there.

He opened his mouth to say something but then cringed in pain as he tried to sit up.

"Shh, let's just get you inside. We'll talk later." Konan said as she helped Deidara up and led him inside the base. She never really had known the blonde too well before because generally, Akatsuki didn't meet up in person too much aside from the assigned partners. But he was a member of the organization and she felt that even though she had never really even talked to him before that he was part of her family.

* * *

"Nagato, it's been four days."

Nagato shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"I know that Tobi."

"Deidara still isn't back."

"I know that too."

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, we need to look for him I suppose…"

"What are you going to do with him once you find him?"

"What are you implying? I don't _know_ yet Tobi! I'll figure that out once I find him!"

"No need to get so emotional. I was simply asking a question."

Nagato opened his mouth to say something when suddenly a blue haired kunoichi entered the room.

"Pein? Deidara is back."

"Oh, arigato Konan" Nagato answered slightly smirking at Tobi. "Where is he?"

"Resting. He was injured badly."

"Is he alright?"

"He should be in a few days."

"Arigato" Nagato said waving her away. "See?" He said turning to Tobi. "He _was_ injured" his voice carrying an "I told you so" tone to it.

"Humph. We'll see." Tobi said and vanished.

_I hate it when he does that. But at least he can stop harassing me about Deidara now. I hope the kid's okay._

* * *

__**A/N: And there's the chapter! I tried to give a couple of glimpses of Deidara's past but it just didn't fit...hopefully the hints were good enough. We'll be getting to that soon enough! And writing with Sakura annoys me to death but I suppose it makes the fic interesting. Besides I don't really have anyone else who fits that well.  
**

**Special thanks to all my reviewers; you are all very much appreciated!  
**

**Please R&R!  
**

**Japanese Reference:  
**

****Hitae-ate = Forehead protector  
Sama = Lord/Lady  
Baka = Idiot  
Hai = Yes  
Chan = Japanese honorific for young children and girls. Term of endearment.  
Kun = Japanese honorific for young boys and teenagers. Term of endearment.  
Kami = god  
Arigato/Arigato gozaimasu = Thanks/Thank you  
Gomen = Sorry  
Oi = Hey

I believe that's all but I'm too lazy and tired right now to go back and check. As always, let me know if I missed any and I will add them!


	7. Tobi's a Good Boy?

**A/N: Yay! Next chapter! Well, I hope it hasn't been too long...one week I think? Yeah, I was working on a drawing for a DeviantArt contest so that occupied some of my time for a while but now I have finished this next chapter!**

**Yes, I used plot-revive-no-jutsu to bring back Hidan and Kakuzu :P Originally, they weren't going to be in the fic at all but my brother pointed out that Tobi needed some cooperative helpers so I brought them back.  
**

**No, Deidara is not younger than Sasuke. Sasuke just thinks he is. I'm actually not sure what I'm going to make their ages yet in this fic but Deidara is older than Sasuke if only by a little bit.  
**

**Well, I think that's it! Enjoy the chapter!  
**

**I (still) do not own any of the characters in this fic.**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Tobi's a Good Boy?**

* * *

Tobi walked through the Akatsuki base turning over thoughts in his head. He was suspicious of Akatsuki's youngest member; always had been even when the blonde had first come to the group. It was never even his idea in the first place to let Deidara join but Nagato had been hell bent on the kid for whatever reason so he had let it slide. Deidara did have some interesting and useful abilities after all.

Still, he had never liked Deidara much. The kid just had something about him that seemed off to Tobi. Tobi knew that he never liked Akatsuki so that automatically gave the masked ninja a reason to suspect him. This was probably the greatest reason he had insisted he take the place of the kid's partner after Sasori died. He wanted to know more about blonde, his thoughts, his reasoning. Unfortunately, Deidara mostly kept personal information to himself though Tobi had learned a thing or two about his temperament and personality.

He was sure Deidara was doing something against Akatsuki, sure of it. All he needed was to prove it to Nagato and they could get rid of the annoying blonde once and forever. Though, one thing that baffled him was how the blonde was doing it. Tobi thought maybe Deidara had help but from who? At any rate, that didn't matter so much. His biggest problem now was getting Nagato to believe that Deidara wasn't really working for Akatsuki. Nagato seemed to have some sort of attachment to the blonde and Tobi knew that it was going to be difficult to get him to do anything to the kid. No, if Tobi was going to convince Nagato he would need some hardcore proof; which was what he was out to get at the very moment.

Tobi's thoughts wandered back to when he had still been partners with the ex-Iwa nin; before everyone had known his identity. He remembered what had happened with Orochimaru and how it had just about messed up everything. Really now, if that hadn't happened then he might not have a certain annoying blonde to deal with at the moment. But as it was, he had been forced to reveal himself causing things to be pushed up and plans to be rearranged. _Damn luck. If only I had taken care of these things sooner I wouldn't be in this mess. _As he went on his thoughts drifted back to that day when things had started going wrong and his plan had effectively been shot.

* * *

"_Senpai where are we going?"_

"_I just told you two minutes ago Tobi! Peim-sama wants us to go help Itachi-san with something, un."_

"_What something?"_

"_Hell if I know! Now shut up, un!"_

"_But then how are we supposed to help Itachi-san if we don't know what we're supposed to be doing?"_

"_We ask him when we get there. Which at this rate will be never since _someone_ keeps asking stupid questions!"_

"_But Senpai, we're still walking even if I ask questions. Besides this is taking forever anyways. Let's do something fun!"_

"_NO!"_

"_But-"_

"_I said no. Now just shut up, un!"_

"_Boy, someone's not happy today."_

_Deidara only growled and walked faster as if trying to get away from Tobi. Tobi smirked under his mask. He enjoyed making the kid mad. At least if he had to be stuck in this idiotic disguise he could have some amusement. _

"_So Senpai, let's play a game!"_

"_Hell no."_

"_Alrighty! This game's called 'twenty questions.' You can ask first Senpai!"_

"_I SAID NO!" Deidara shouted_

"_Okay, I'll go first then. Hm, let me think, is it red?"_

"_I said I'm not playing this game Tobi, un."_

"_No Deidara-senpai. You're supposed to say yes or no."_

"_And I said I don't want to play! Just leave me alone, un."_

"_Is something bothering you senpai?"_

"_Yeah. Something is. It wears an orange mask and it talks all the time, un."_

"_Silly senpai. I know there's something else. Tell me!"_

"_Why the hell would I do that, un?"_

"_Because we're partners!"_

_Deidara muttered something under his breath and walked even faster than before. Tobi almost had to run to keep up with him. Almost. _

"_Come on senpai! You can tell me! I won't-"_

"_Sh! Over there, un."_

_Tobi turned his head in the direction Deidara was pointing. There he saw Itachi and Orochimaru deeply engaged in battle. Tobi knew as well as Deidara what they were there to do. Orochimaru had been getting a little too much information on Akatsuki lately so Nagato had thought it a wise choice to eliminate him. And Tobi had agreed. Itachi had been sent first, without Kisame since the shark nin was on another mission, and Deidara and Tobi had been sent as backup. _

"_Come on Tobi. We need to get over there, un."_

_Tobi said nothing but followed after Deidara. On the way he wondered why they were taking so long. Deidara never went this slow and a walk that should have taken five minutes was beginning to take ten. He wondered if it was because of the rivalry the blonde and the Uchiha seemingly had or if it was something else. Maybe Deidara just wasn't feeling well or something, though that hardly made sense. He seemed fine a couple of minutes ago. _

_Something nagged at the back of Tobi's mind. He had seen Itachi and Deidara talking with each other not more than a week ago and had been wondering ever since what it had been about. Of course, he couldn't ask. As far as the two Akatsuki knew Tobi was not there at all. So that would look suspicious and Deidara would probably ask how Tobi knew of such things. _

_Tobi was about to ask Deidara what was taking him so long when suddenly, they were there. Tobi looked around for Itachi but couldn't find the Uchiha anywhere. Either Deidara failed to notice this or was unfazed by the matter. At any rate, he didn't really seem to care which raised another flag for Tobi. _

_Tobi also noticed that Orochimaru was probably on the verge of dying. Itachi had done his job at the very least. _

"_Doesn't look like we're needed here anymore Tobi. Let's go, un."_

_But Tobi wanted to find out what the hell happened to Itachi. "Let's finish him off first senpai. If we don't then he might live and Pein-sama wouldn't be happy!"_

_Deidara rolled his eyes "Fine." He stuck his hands in his clay pouch and began molding what Tobi knew to be a clay bomb. _

"_Wait senpai!" Tobi exclaimed, jumping in front of the blonde. _

"What_ Tobi?" _

"_Why don't we ask him where Itachi-san went first?"_

"_I'm sure he's fine. Now move so that I can finish this, un."_

"_I…killed him.." Orochimaru spoke up, a smirk on his face._

_Tobi couldn't believe it. He glanced over towards Deidara who remained impassive. _

"_Whatever, un." Was all he answered "Are you going to move Tobi or am I going to have to make you move, un?"_

"_But senpai! He just said he killed Itachi-san! How are we supposed to know this; where's the corpse?"_

"_Oh, quit the act Tobi" Orochimaru said suddenly._

Don't tell me he knows…. _"What act?" Tobi asked in his most innocent voice._

"_We all know who you really are. Don't play these games." The snake hissed and an evil smirk played on his face._

_Deidara just stood there, the same blank expression on his face. But Tobi knew he was thinking. "Tobi, what is he talking about, un?"_

"_Heheh, how am I supposed to know senpai? He's probably just crazy." Tobi said with a shrug. _

"_You mean you haven't told blondie here? Well, excuse me. I never thought you were one to keep things from your partner Tobi." _

"_Tell me what? What the hell are you talking about?" _

_Tobi knew this was bad. He didn't know if Deidara would believe the snake but he didn't want to take any chances._

"_Come on senpai, we should go look for Itachi-san!" But Deidara didn't move, his eyes glued on Orochimaru. _

"_Tobi here is the real leader of Akatsuki." Orochimaru drawled_

_Deidara turned his head slowly to face Tobi, his expression unreadable. "What does he mean, un?"_

"_Honestly senpai, how am I supposed to know? Heheh...He's probably just lost it!"_

"_Come now Tobi, why bother trying to hide it? Why don't you tell your friend here how you're really the one telling Pein what to do, hm?"_

_Deidara didn't say anything but kept on staring at Tobi, the question apparent on his face. _

_Tobi decided to drop his act. Really Deidara would have found out sooner or later anyways, so why not?_

"_Shut up Orochimaru. Was this your plan all along? Just to reveal me? A waste of time. They all would have known soon anyways."_

_Deidara's jaw dropped as he tried to say something but nothing came. He just stood there, completely shocked Tobi imagined. _

"_Oh really? Well, from my sources, I found that-"_

_Orochimaru was cut off by Tobi thrusting many kunai into him. He gave a sort of gasp and then died. Tobi turned to face Deidara who was still just standing there in shock. His face was a mix of surprise and anger. _

"_Let's go" Tobi said to the blonde._

_Deidara didn't move. Finally he said "You mind telling me what the hell just happened?"_

"_Exactly as you saw it"_

"_That doesn't explain much, un."_

"_Too bad for you kid. Now let's go."_

"_Answer my question first, un."_

"_**Deidara**__" Tobi said menacingly._

_The blonde seemed unfazed by the change of tone but nonetheless decided that Tobi wasn't going to answer his question so instead said "Fine, whatever, un" and followed after Tobi._

* * *

Tobi sighed with the memory fresh in his mind. He had acted like it was nothing then but really Orochimaru had done him a huge disservice. He had wanted to go around acting as Deidara's partner for a little while longer so that he could both further investigate the blonde and so that he could get a better idea of what the other members and everyone else thought of Akatsuki. All that had changed when Deidara had found out. Tobi knew the kid probably wouldn't keep his mouth shut no matter what the masked nin threatened so, rather than risk it, he just decided to reveal himself entirely to the rest of Akatsuki.

But now he hadn't been able to keep as close of an eye as he would have liked on the blonde shinobi. And lately he'd noticed some strange behavior from the blonde; the kid just seemed more secretive, and he always rushed around places. Of course, Tobi really couldn't accuse him based on those facts alone but still it raised the masked ninja's suspicions.

Now, the blonde had also taken a good four days to come back to the base. Konan had said the kid got himself injured but still he wasn't sure. It was just one ANBU after all and Tobi had a nagging suspicion that there was more to this than everyone else thought. Which was why he was making his way to the blonde's room at that very moment. He wanted to ask Deidara some questions and he also wanted to see for himself how bad the kid was.

Reaching the room he let himself in silently. He didn't see Konan anywhere which was good. He didn't want to be bothered by the kunoichi. Quickly making his way over to the bed he looked the sleeping blonde over.

_Hmph. Well, he really did get himself injured pretty badly. _Tobi thought, looking Deidara over with his Sharingan. Though he seemed to be sleeping peacefully, Deidara's face was very pale and glistened with sweat. _He probably lost a decent amount of blood. _Tobi couldn't get a look at the blonde's injuries but he could tell just by looking at the kid's face that they were bad. Bad enough at any rate.

Tobi moved to the opposite corner of the room as he waited for Deidara to wake up. He would wait there all day and night if he had to but he was going to get his questions answered, one way or another.

* * *

_Ohhh…what happened? Wait a minute…Akatsuki! _

Deidara sat up a little too quickly and gasped as pain ripped through his shoulder and stomach. _Ah, ohhh….damnit...my injuries…_

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

_Huh, who? Tobi…?_

Deidara looked around and sure enough he saw the masked ninja sitting in a corner of the room watching him.

Leaning back he said in a weak voice "The hell do you want Tobi, un?"

"Well, isn't someone happy to see me? No need to get so flustered _senpai_, I only wanted to talk."

Tobi seemed to love to jab at Deidara whenever he could by using that old honorific. And generally, it would have worked, but Deidara was really in too much pain to care.

"'Bout what, un?"

"I just have a few questions is all"

"Then hurry up and ask them damnit"

Tobi made a clicking noise "So impatient. Well, obviously you failed your mission. That's not like you. What happened?"

"Just underestimated him is all, un"

"It was one ANBU Deidara. What happened?"

"Leave me alone! I said I just underestimated him, un."

"And I said it was only one ANBU. Deidara, I know you can handle five alone without a problem. I'll ask one more time, what happened?"

"…"

"I'm waiting"

Deidara thought for a moment. He couldn't tell Tobi, no, that would just ruin everything. But he couldn't really think up a good excuse at the moment either. Instead he just decided to play on the fact that he was injured.

"Well…I don't remember too well, un"

Tobi sniffed, obviously not buying it. "How were you injured?"

"Carelessness I guess…"

"No, I mean with what?"

"Katana, un"

"And?"

"Some sort of lightning style jutsu, un"

"Hn"

Deidara laid his head back and closed his eyes a bit. He honestly didn't have enough energy for this at the moment. His head was spinning, his injuries burned and he just wanted to sleep.

"How come it took you so long to get back?"

"I was _injured_ Tobi, un."

"So it took you four days to come back?"

"I guess…"

Tobi opened his mouth to say something else when he heard someone in the hall.

"Hn, fine, but don't think you can hide everything forever. I know you're up to something." And with that the masked ninja vanished.

Deidara felt like he should be concerned but just couldn't think about that at the moment. Instead he laid back down again trying to ignore the burning pain his wounds gave him. He heard the door open quietly and someone crossed over towards the bed. Deidara tried to pull himself up to a sitting position but the person pushed him back down.

"No, no, don't get up. You need to lie down and rest." Deidara recognized the voice as Konan's and turned to face the kunoichi.

"…Konan-sama?"

She placed some things she had been holding on the table beside the bed and turned to look at Deidara. "Yes?"

"What…happened…?"

"You must have been flying because you fell out of the sky unconscious in front of me last night. I brought you in here. Your injuries are pretty nasty."

"Oh…"

Konan grabbed a thermometer off the table and eased it into Deidara's mouth. "Don't bite down" she warned and he nodded. She then pulled back the blankets covering him a bit and started to carefully remove the constrictive bandages around his shoulder and torso. Deidara winced a bit as the kunoichi treated his wounds with something and then rewrapped the bandages. Finally she pulled the blankets back up and took the thermometer out, frowning as she checked it. Muttering something under her breath she grabbed a cloth off the table and stuck it in a bowl of water. Wringing it out she placed it on the blonde's forehead and he felt his body relax at the cooling touch.

He was on the verge of falling asleep again when he felt something being pressed to his lips. Opening his eyes once more he saw Konan with a glass in her hands. "Drink it; it will help with the pain." Nodding Deidara did as she said. Finishing the concoction he laid back again gazing up at the kunoichi. "Just sleep now Deidara. You need as much rest as you can get." Deidara thought she started to say something else as well but he couldn't make it out as he felt his eyelids drooping and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Tobi stalked through the hideout slightly angered at his earlier encounter with the blonde. He had, of course, obtained nothing useful. The only thing he learned was that Deidara had been less than willing to talk with him; a fact he had known before he'd even begun the conversation. He hadn't expected Deidara to give him much but he had been hoping that the blonde would slip up and accidentally spill something. Of course Deidara didn't. And of course Konan just had to show up right when he thought he might have a chance at getting something.

Tobi now believed that questioning the blonde would no longer work. He could try it again but Deidara already disliked him and, knowing Deidara, with the conversation they just had the blonde would probably be more on his guard and less likely to blow his cover or something. No, he couldn't talk to the kid so it was time for plan b.

What he needed was someone to spy on Deidara. He wasn't going to tell Nagato about this; the other leader of Akatsuki would never agree but Tobi was suspicious. Nobody could be allowed to be a threat to Akatsuki and if they were they must be dealt with. Nagato couldn't see it yet but Tobi was really doing him a favor.

Turning the corner he found who he was looking for. "Hidan, Kakuzu" he nodded towards the pair. They had been out on some long mission of which Tobi cared nothing. They were back now and that's all that mattered. Tobi knew they could be trusted to do Akatsuki's work and also not to tell Nagato anything.

"Come with me." He said in a voice that meant business. He then turned and began walking off in another direction.

The other two Akatsuki followed not saying anything which slightly surprised Tobi; especially the fact that Hidan of all people had not protested. Then again, hardly anyone ever dared to say anything against Tobi when he meant business so it really wasn't that surprising after all.

Reaching a remote area of the base Tobi turned and said, "I have a job for the two of you."

"What the hell would that be?" Hidan asked "We just got back from a damn mission and already you're f****** sending us on another one?"

"This is important" The masked ninja answered, unfazed by the Jashinist's foul words. "You cannot tell anyone about it, not even Pein. You will report the progress and such of this mission to me and only me."

"Get the f*** on with it already!"

"I need you to tail Deidara and report to me where he goes and what he does."

"What the hell? You mean we gotta play babysitter for blondie?! That's shit!"

"Shut up Hidan" Kakuzu said, obviously annoyed with his partner. "What did the kid do this time?" He asked, turning towards Tobi.

"Nothing that we have evidence for, but I believe there's a spy in Akatsuki."

"HAHA! So you think blondie's turned tables on us? Hey, this might not be so bad after all! Dei-chan's going to be in some deep shit!" Hidan said with more than a little glee.

"I SAID SHUT UP HIDAN!" Kakuzu said menacingly. Turning back to Tobi he said, "What do you want us to do specifically and when do we start?"

"Well, it appears Deidara was injured in his last mission so no need to do anything just yet. Once he recovers I want you to follow him whenever he leaves the base and tell me exactly where he goes and what he does. Understand? I'll take care of your missions from Pein should any arise; this mission takes precedence over anything else."

"Right" Kakuzu nodded. "Let's go Hidan"

Tobi watched the two walk away. _Deidara, I swear, I __**will**__ catch you. One way or another…_

* * *

Sasuke shifted impatiently outside the Hokage's office. He had been told not to come in until he was summoned but not to go anywhere either. He didn't like this waiting. He could be out training; something he seriously needed to start doing again, but no. He was stuck here waiting for the Hokage to call him in. The other thing was he didn't even know why he was here to begin with. If it was a mission he would have been told beforehand. So that was only making the waiting more unbearable.

While waiting, he found his thoughts drifting back to the young blonde shinobi he had essentially helped escape. He did hope the kid had made it back alright. Sakura had said he wouldn't be able to make the distance but Sasuke knew Deidara was determined enough. He just hoped it worked and also that the blonde wasn't in that much trouble with Akatsuki. He couldn't know for sure but he assumed being in trouble with them would be worse than being in trouble with Tsunade.

Though he hadn't shown it, the Uchiha had taken quite an interest in the young Akatsuki. He wondered what could have happened to make the kid become rogue. He was young; probably younger than Sasuke. In fact, Sasuke would be very surprised if the kid was older than him. This probably meant there had been some trauma in the blonde's life to make him an ex-Iwa ninja. After all, Sasuke had never met a kid who became rogue just for the fun of it. In fact, he had never known any ninja who became rogue just for the fun of it, never mind a kid!

He had also picked up on the idea that Deidara didn't really want to be rogue. The blonde had told Sasuke that he never wanted to be in Akatuski and when Sakura had talked to him she said he seemed to want to go back to his village. Whatever had happened, whether it was ill luck or a bad choice on the blonde's part, Sasuke still wanted to know _more._ He knew from personal experience that it most likely wasn't what everyone thought. He also knew that being rogue didn't necessarily mean the ninja was a bad person, contrary to popular belief.

Suddenly, the door to the Hokage's office swung open, snapping Sasuke out of his thoughts as a couple of genin rushed out. Shizune came out next and seeing Sasuke said "Tsunade-sama can see you now"

_Finally._

Nodding to Shizune, Sasuke quickly entered the room closing the door behind him. As Sasuke entered the Hokage looked up from her paperwork.

"Ah, Sasuke"

Sasuke gave a slight nod.

"Well, I wanted to know, have you convinced that Iwa ninja to come yet?"

_So that's what this is about then? Shit…_

"No. I asked him."

"And?"

"He doesn't want to come."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't want to give his identity yet."

"You did tell him that I only want to talk right? His identity won't be revealed to anyone, I promise."

"Hai, I said that. He still seems wary."

"Any idea why?"

_Because he's a freaking Akatsuki; ex-Akatsuki. Even if you weren't to do anything Akatsuki surely would find out one way or another._

"No"

"Well, try and convince him. If he won't come here though, tell him that I will go to him."

_What the hell? SHIT!_

"Is that really necessary?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I mean, do you really need to see him?"

"Why? Is there a reason I shouldn't? At any rate Sasuke, we're in a war and I need to know the people I'm dealing with. I know what you say but I need to see him for myself now that we know more. So either he comes here or you take me to him. Tell him that."

Sasuke just stood there unsure as to what to say.

"Well, go on! It's not going to happen with you just standing there gaping."

"Hai, Hokage-sama" Sasuke nodded and left in an instant.

_Damn, what the hell am I supposed to do now? I need…to talk to that kid again. But how is the question. He found me…I don't know where he is. Not even remotely. I better do something soon…I wonder if there's a way I can track him…If I go back to that place where we battled I might be able to. It would be a little risky with all the Akatsuki but I could do it probably. Hn, we'll see._

* * *

Deidara awoke with a start. He could feel the sweat pouring off his face and hear his heart pounding. _Calm down Deidara, calm down…just a dream, nothing more…just a dream…_

He forced himself to suck in deep breaths, trying to calm himself from the nightmare. Ever since he had passed by that village old memories he had thought long dead had resurfaced and the dreams he thought he had gotten rid of years ago were beginning to come back. He tried to convince himself that they would go away soon, that this was only a relapse type of thing only made worse by his condition. But he was beginning to get the feeling that there was more to it than this.

Reaching with his right arm, he absentmindedly grabbed at his shoulder and grimaced. It was getting better but still there remained a dull ache and it was sore to the touch. The pain in his stomach had lessened as well though it still held some of remnants of the fiery burn from earlier.

Deidara vaguely wondered how long he had been out for. He thought not more than a few hours but really it could have been a couple days for all he knew. He wanted to get up and see what was going on but really he was too tired. Though, he didn't really want to sleep either. He didn't want the nightmares to come back and, at any rate, he felt like he couldn't sleep even if he tried. So instead he leaned back and decided to just stay there until someone came or until he got bored or fell asleep; whichever came first.

_Tap, tap, tap. _

Deidara had actually been on the verge of dozing off when he heard a small noise at his window.

_Tap, tap, tap. _

He was ready to ignore it but when it happened again he decided to get up and see what it could be.

_Tap, tap, tap. _

He started to get up but had to stop and hold onto the table next to his bed when an overwhelming feeling of dizziness overcame him.

_Tap, tap, tap. _

Getting his bearings about him he was able to slowly make his way towards the window. "Damnit, I _hear_ you already; I'm coming, un" he muttered more to himself than to whatever was at the window.

_Tap, tap, t-_

All at once Deidara opened the window, wincing a bit as his shoulder ached, and realized immediately what was going on.

The intruder was a small bird, the kind Itachi used to send Deidara information. Sure enough, there was a tiny scroll attached to the bird's leg. Sighing, he took the scroll and made his way back to the bed to read it. The bird, having realized its mission was accomplished, alighted and left leaving the window empty. Deidara watched it fly off into the approaching sunset before unrolling the scroll to read what Itachi wanted this time.

Of course, the Uchiha had wanted to know if Deidara had gotten the latest scroll to Konoha yet as Deidara had not yet sent him a confirmation saying that it had been accomplished. After that, Itachi went on to say if it had been accomplished, he had something to tell Deidara but they were going to have to meet up for it since it would take too long to explain in a note.

The blonde sighed again. He could just tell Itachi that he had done his part but he didn't really want to omit the whole deal with Sasuke. Itachi would find out sooner or later and in this case it was best if he knew as soon as possible. But, then again, he wasn't too sure Itachi would be very happy with him if he told the Uchiha that Sasuke now knew everything.

However, Deidara finally decided just to tell Itachi since really, it didn't matter that much to him anyways. What did he have to lose? Itachi might be mad yes, but Deidara was pretty sure he wouldn't do anything to the blonde. Pretty sure anyways.

Finding a small piece of paper lying around, he wrote back to Itachi in rather shaky handwriting since he was still feeling dizzy and his shoulder hurt. He told the Uchiha that he had delivered the message and also that he met Sasuke. He continued saying that he would tell Itachi more once they met up which would be whenever Itachi wanted.

Rolling up the paper, Deidara got out a bit of clay and molded a small bird, gave it the message, then sent it out the window to wherever Itachi was. He knew Itachi would be waiting for his response and would be quick to reply so he just lay on the bed waiting for Itachi's next message.

Presently, just as expected, another small bird came in through the window and this time right up to Deidara. Grabbing the message he unrolled it and read.

_Your writing is off; what happened? If you can, meet me after dark in that clearing just beyond the borders of Ame._

No mention of Sasuke. Deidara wasn't sure whether this was a good or bad thing but decided not to think too much about it. Sighing, he wrote:

_I'm fine. I'll be there. _

And then sent it off to Itachi. Now he just had to figure a way to sneak out of the Akatsuki base without getting noticed.

Just then, he heard someone approaching. As quick as he could he hopped up, closed the window, and laid back down slightly exhausted from the effort. Deidara heard the doorknob turn and glanced over to see Konan entering the room. She stopped slightly when she noticed the blonde was awake but then proceeded towards him with a glass of something in her hands.

"How are you feeling Deidara?" She asked sitting down

"Better, un"

She said nothing but looked him over a bit before turning back to something on the table.

"Uh, Konan-sama?"

"What is it?"

"Can I get up now, un?"

"Hm" she grabbed the thermometer off the table and placed it in Deidara's mouth then made a move to check his injuries. Finishing up, she took the thermometer out, glanced at it and said, "No."

"I feel fine though, un."

"You still have a slight fever and your injuries still need to heal a bit. You need to rest more."

"But I've been sleeping for hours"

"Two days, Deidara."

_Damn, it was days?_

"You can't just get up all of a sudden like that when you've been out for so long. No, not yet."

_There goes that plan…_

"Alright…"

"Here" she said as she handed him the glass "Drink this."

Nodding he took it and drank. Then handed her back the glass and laid back, beginning to feel tired again.

"Pein wants to see you later to talk about the mission. Get some rest until then."

Deidara nodded again as he closed his eyes. He was starting to feel the effects of the medicine Konan had given him.

_I guess I'll just…rest for a bit…then sneak out the window or something to meet Itachi…he can wait after all…_

And, with those thoughts on his mind, the world slowly faded to black.

* * *

**A/N: And done! Evil, Tobi is evil. Silly Tobi. And yes, I *'d out some of Hidan's cussing because this fic is still supposed to be rated Teen :P**

**Special thanks to all of my reviewers! ^o^  
**

**Please R&R!  
**

**Japanese Reference:  
**

****Senpai = Senior  
Sama = Lord/Lady  
San = Common Japanese honorific. Can mean Mr, Mrs, Miss, etc but it also used generally as a term of respect.  
Chan = Japanese honorific used for young children and girls. Term of endearment but Hidan means it in an insulting way here.  
Hai = Yes


	8. Memories

**A/N: Phew, finally finished this one! I didn't get as far as I thought I would but I did end up adding some things that originally weren't going to be in the fic at all. Man...I rewrote the Pein and Konan scene so many times...and then the ghost village one after that...I hope they're good! Chapter title was also hard to come up with but I hope it does the chapter justice :3**

**The first part is flashback...hopefully it's not too confusing? I find it hard to write flashbacks into stories...**

**I still don't own Naruto or any of the characters used in this fic.**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Memories**

* * *

"_Kasan, where are we going, un?"_

_A young blonde woman looked down at the little boy holding her hand and allowed a tiny smile to grace her lips._

"_You'll see Deidara-kun"_

_She led the boy down a narrow rocky path. "Watch your step!" She warned as he almost tripped over one of the stones poking out of the ground. The boy only nodded and gripped her hand tighter. _

_Presently, they came to an open area with a mountain range to the north side and the narrow path leading back to the village behind them. There was a little house, more like a shack, close to the north most part of the clearing. The boy looked confused._

"_Kasan, why are we here? What's this place, un?"_

"_Oh, well" the woman began trying to find a convenient excuse to quickly tell the boy "we're going to be staying here for a little bit"_

"_Why?"_

_She looked down and saw his piercing ice blue eyes gazing into her own. Questioning, confused…quickly she looked away. "Because honey, I thought it would be fun. Sort of like a little vacation" she turned to face him with a nervous sort of smile._

_Deidara still looked confused, as if he wasn't too sure about it all. Slowly, he nodded "'Kay…"_

_The woman let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Come on, let's go inside" she said, trying to sound cheerful despite herself. The boy only nodded again and followed after her. _

_Once inside, the woman made Deidara sit on a low stool while she put everything away. After that was done she went to all the possible entrances of the house and started making a sort of seal. The boy watched her, curiously, but didn't say anything. Finally she turned back to him. _

"_Alright honey, I've gotta go."_

_Something changed in Deidara's eyes. Was it, fear? Worry? Whatever it was it saddened her. "B-but, kasan…"_

"_Gomen, Deidara, I'll be back soon. But I have to go now."_

"_P-promise, un?" He looked like he was almost going to cry. _

"_Promise" she said and hugged him tightly to herself. "I promise…" she said softer, her own tears threatening to leak out. _

_She felt Deidara's small body begin to shake in her arms and heard him sniffling. "Oh, Dei-kun, don't cry. I'll be back, I promise!" She told him as she tried to force a smile. "You gotta watch the house for me, okay?"_

"_Kay…" he answered, still sniffling. _

"_Here" she began to remove her hitae-ate and tied it on to the boy's forehead "See? Now you're a real ninja. So you gotta be brave for me"_

_Deidara reached up and lightly touched the hitae-ate. Suddenly, he smiled timidly, and hugged her. "Kay, arigato kasan, un."_

_The woman smiled lightly and hugged him back. "It'll be okay" she whispered, more to herself than her son "It'll be okay…"_

_As the woman took one final gaze back at the house, she allowed a few tears to slip from her eyes. "Gomen, Deidara, gomen…forgive me…"_

* * *

Deidara woke up shivering. Absentmindedly, he reached up to his forehead to feel for his hitae-ate but panicked slightly when he realized it wasn't there. Quickly looking around the room he found it sitting on the table next to him. Breathing out a small sigh of relief, he sat up, grabbed the hitae-ate, and tied it back in its usual place, wincing slightly as the muscles in his shoulder ached with a dull pain every time he moved it. Looking around, he realized the room had become much darker and that it was probably the middle of the night by now. Wait.

_Shit!_

He was supposed to meet Itachi as soon as it got dark but ended up oversleeping. As quickly as he could, he leapt out of bed and dressed himself. Then, hurriedly pulling his hair into its usual ponytail and throwing on his Akatsuki cloak, he went over to the window and took one last look around the room. He didn't sense anyone coming and hoped that it would be too late for anyone to come into his room to check on him. Satisfied, he quietly let himself down to the ground and took off running.

_I'm so late; Itachi's gonna to kill me! Ugh, what am I supposed to tell him?_

Deidara shivered as he ran. This damn rain wasn't helping anything. Of course, it was Ame so it _would_ be raining, but for whatever reason it seemed to be coming down harder than usual to Deidara. It was coming down so hard that, mixed with the darkness of the night, Deidara could barely see in front of him. This resulted in him tripping and almost falling on his face more than once in his rush to meet Itachi.

_Stupid damn rain! Why can't it ever let up?_

Finally, he saw his destination in sight and, in an effort to get there even quicker, he made a dash for it. Unfortunately, he tripped once again and the momentum he had gained caused him to fall hard on his injured shoulder just inside the meeting place.

"Careful" he heard a voice say.

Deidara slowly sat up, rubbing his shoulder. "Oww…" He looked around and saw Itachi, sitting in one of the trees watching him.

"You should watch your footing, Deidara" Itachi said pointedly.

"I _know, _un" Deidara said irritably, still wincing from the pain in his shoulder.

"You're late" the Uchiha stated matter-of-factly.

Grimacing, Deidara answered "I know that too, un" and proceeded to glare at Itachi who was still only watching him.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm fine, un"

"You're injured"

_Must he always point out the obvious? _"Whatever" Deidara rolled his eyes. "I said I'm _fine_, un"

Itachi ignored the last comment. "How did it happen?"

Still rubbing his aching shoulder, Deidara got up slowly. "Nothing. It's nothing. What did you want, un?"

Itachi only stared at Deidara for a moment not saying anything. Deciding to let the matter drop for the time being he said, "From what you've told me, Tobi is catching on"

"Wonder what gave that away, un" Deidara remarked sarcastically.

Itachi continued "We need to start being more careful"

Deidara crossed his arms "By 'we' you mean me, un"

Itachi only ignored Deidara again. "So I need you to do something for me"

_What else is new?_ "Yeah?"

"Find out exactly what Tobi knows"

_The hell? _Tired of standing and not wanting to sit on the ground, Deidara got up into one of the trees and sat on a slightly thinner branch. Now at Itachi's level, he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha. "Exactly how is that 'being more careful,' un?"

"It's not. It's risky"

Deidara was slightly confused.

_First he says to "be more careful" then he says to walk right into the lions' den. What could he possibly be thinking? _

Seeing the look Deidara gave him Itachi explained. "We don't want to hinder any progress. If we go about doing absolutely everything to prevent Tobi from finding out it could backfire. But we can't just not deal with it either. In order to best prepare ourselves we need to know exactly what Tobi knows."

"So basically, in order to protect this um, project, we need to take act more careless in order to be more careful, un."

"Put it that way if you like"

"Heh, I'm not exactly the stealthy type you know, un"

Itachi waved a hand. "You're better than you think; you'll figure something out."

"Hmph" Deidara leaned back and started thinking things over. Suddenly, Itachi jumped over to Deidara's branch, the extra weight causing the smaller limb to crack and break. Instinctively, Deidara looked around for something to stop the fall and, seeing another branch over to his left, made a grab for it. Unfortunately his shoulder was still healing and as such the pain that tensed through it caused him to let go wincing and falling to the ground instead.

Itachi landed lightly next to blonde.

"What the hell was that for?" Deidara asked angrily as he picked himself up, trying to rub the pain out of his shoulder.

"It's not nothing" Itachi simply stated

"What the hell are you going on about, un?"

"Your shoulder. It's injured. What happened, Deidara?"

"I already told you I'm fine!" Deidara practically shouted at Itachi "Just leave me alone, un"

Before Deidara could react, Itachi grabbed his shoulder, forcing his other arm away and eliciting a yelp of pain from the blonde.

"H-hey, what are you-OW!" Itachi began pressing into Deidara's shoulder with his thumb, feeling the injury.

"You're in pain" Itachi said frowning. He leveled his eyes with Deidara's "what happened?"

Deidara sucked in a breath. He knew Itachi wasn't going to leave him alone until he told the Uchiha what had actually happened. Still, he didn't really want to tell. Instead he turned his gaze towards Ame and said nothing.

Itachi continued to explore the severity of the injury. Obviously, if the blonde wasn't going to tell him he was going to figure it out himself.

Deidara tried to squirm away but Itachi's grip kept him from going anywhere.

"Look Itachi" Deidara began turning back towards him "I-OW! SHIT! STOP!" Itachi had found the tender area of the wound and now Deidara shut his eyes tight, hissing in pain. Gently, Itachi released his hold and pushed Deidara down into a sitting position. Slowly, the blonde opened his eyes and saw Itachi still just staring at him.

"Well?"

Sighing, Deidara gave in "It was in the fight with Sasuke, un"

Itachi waited for Deidara to go on. "I was distracted…"

"Chidori"

"Huh?"

"He used Chidori"

"I guess? It was some lightning style jutsu, un"

"It was Chidori" Itachi said with finality.

"Whatever, un"

"Let me see"

Sighing, Deidara nodded and removed his Akatsuki cloak, pulling down the left sleeve of his shirt to reveal his bandaged shoulder. Itachi moved in and began carefully removing the bandages. Inspecting the injury, he frowned.

"When did it happen?"

"Almost a week ago, un"

"Hn"

Itachi replaced the bandages and helped Deidara pull his shirt and cloak back up. "You need rest"

"Everyone says that. I'm fine, un" Deidara scoffed

"It's not healed. And you didn't seem fine a minute ago. Unless you want it to get worse you need to let it heal properly. It penetrated deep and did quite a bit of internal damage. It's going to take a while."

Was he, concerned? Deidara shook the thought out of his head. Itachi just needed him for the plan was all. Nobody really cared.

"I can take care of myself, un" he snapped, looking away.

"Deidara" Itachi said with firmness in his voice. Deidara turned back to look at Itachi. The Uchiha said nothing but held his gaze for a while. Deidara turned away again.

"Whatever" he said quickly. Then, getting up he asked "So, you want me to give you info on Tobi, un?"

Itachi gave a slight nod.

"Got anything for Konoha this time, un?"

"Here" Itachi said, handing Deidara a scroll.

"Alright then, see ya, un" he said as he turned back towards Ame.

Itachi only nodded as he watched the blonde walk off, back towards the pouring rain.

* * *

Tracking Deidara had proved harder than Sasuke thought. After he had finally convinced Sakura that, yes, it was the only option they had if they didn't want the Hokage bugging them; he had set out hoping to be able to get on with it quickly. But he had been trying to figure this out for a day or so with no luck.

It wasn't like he had expected it to be a piece of cake. Deidara was, after all, an S-class ninja. And S-class ninja aren't exactly the easiest to go around tracking. Still, as he had seen the general direction that Deidara had gone off in, he thought that it would be easy enough. Apparently, he was wrong.

Eventually, however, he did manage to figure it out and was now rapidly pursuing the trail. It had taken him all too long to find it in his honest opinion because if he didn't get back to Konoha in a timely manner he would be screwed. He was already in a tight spot; no need to make it even worse.

Finally, he came to end of the trail, stopping at the borders of Ame.

_Amegakure? _

Sasuke mentally slapped himself. _Of course_ it would be Ame. Akatsuki had a base there, everyone knew that. He just hadn't expected that's where Deidara would go. Then again, he wasn't sure where else the blonde _could_ go. Really, why hadn't he seen this earlier?

Now, the only thing left was to find the blonde without alerting Akatsuki of his presence. Easier said than done. Luck must have been with Sasuke that evening because just then he thought he caught a glimpse of the young Akatsuki. Quickly making his way over, he tried to figure out the best way to alert Deidara of his presence without causing a disturbance.

"You can come out you know. I know you're there, un"

Sasuke almost jumped, and then mentally slapped himself again. He had forgotten to completely mask his chakra. He really needed to train more. Slowly he came out of his hiding place as Deidara turned to face him.

"What the hell do you want and why'd you come all the way out here? You're putting us both in danger you know, un" he sounded annoyed but not really at Sasuke. The Uchiha wondered if something had happened…

"I have to talk to you. It's important."

"Like hell! First Itachi now you. Well, spit it out I don't have all night, un"

_Itachi? Is that what he was doing?_

"It's the Hokage" Sasuke began and then relayed what Tsunade had told him to Deidara. Deidara listened and when Sasuke had finished he said "Well, what do you want me to do about it? I still have Pein-sama and Tobi to deal with, un"

"She's going to find out sooner or later if we don't do something"

"Yeah yeah, I know. Look, why don't we go ask Itachi. Come on, un!"

The way he said it made it sound like he didn't really want to go see Itachi at the moment. But Sasuke didn't say anything. He was interested in seeing Itachi after all. He had questions, though he probably wouldn't be able to ask them.

He followed Deidara back towards the borders of Ame. Once outside they were in some sort of clearing area and Deidara called out "Itachi! We got ourselves a problem, un"

"Is he here?" Sasuke asked. Deidara shrugged.

"He was a few minutes ago. He's probably still hanging around, un" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Sure enough however, Itachi appeared out of one of the trees. "What?" he asked. Then his eyes fell on Sasuke. Nobody said anything for a while as the two Uchiha just stared at each other for a while, communicating with looks only.

* * *

Deidara backed up a bit, feeling slightly uncomfortable. It was obvious to him that the other two were doing some sort of weird communication thing; something that was making him feel out of place. Finally, Itachi broke the unbearable silence.

"Sasuke…I-"

"I know" Sasuke cut him off and gave the faintest hint of a small smile "I know"

Itach gave a smile himself and poking Sasuke in the forehead said "Arigato"

A sudden pang of loneliness shot through Deidara and memories flashed through his mind. He backed up another step and coughed lightly. "Uh, I hate to interrupt, but we _do_ kind of have a problem on our hands, un"

"Hn, Itachi-nii, the Hokage's being nosy"

"Oh?"

Sasuke then proceeded to tell Itachi the same thing he had told Deidara earlier.

"Hm…that doesn't give us many options" Itachi said when Sasuke had finished.

Sasuke shook his head "It doesn't"

"I suppose Deidara's going to have to go to see her"

_What?_

"Um, Itachi?" Deidara began

"How will that work?" Sasuke asked

"She doesn't have to see him just yet. A meeting where she can talk to him but not see him would be good. It won't work forever but it should satisfy her for now."

Sasuke nodded "That sounds good"

"Um, guys? I'm right here, un"

"You can just tell her that your contact will agree but that he wants to take it slowly."

"Hai…that'll work"

"Guys?" Deidara felt invisible. Albeit, this was a very good thing for a ninja, but Deidara didn't like invisible. He wanted to be noticed.

"Play it right and the plan should go off just as smoothly"

"Hn, I'll do that."

"HEY!"

"What, Deidara?"

Glad that he was finally acknowledged but still frustrated that he had been ignored for so long, Deidara said "How come I don't get a say in this, un?"

"Well, what do you want to do?" Itachi asked pointedly.

Deidara closed his mouth. Itachi's idea _was _probably the only good one they had but still, he hated the fact that both the Uchiha had ignored him and hadn't thought to ask what he made of it. He crossed his arms. "Whatever, un" he grumbled.

"Sasuke, you go back to Konoha and tell the Hokage what I said. Deidara, can you go to the village in two days?"

"Hai, but why not now, un?" He sounded annoyed.

"We need to give it enough time to sound plausible. Besides, you still need rest."

Deidara just muttered something under his breath but didn't make any objections. Sasuke and Itachi then started talking about something of which Deidara didn't really know. He began to feel left out again, and lonely, memories once more flashing through his mind. Sighing, his shoulders sagged as he started to head back towards Ame.

"Deidara" he heard Itachi say. He stopped for a moment. Waving his hand and without turning his head he said "No, it's alright. I'm fine with it. Two days, I got it. I'll be seeing you, un" his voice betraying the slightest hints of sadness. Quickly he started walking away again before he could hear anything else anyone would say. All at once he felt a hand on his shoulder. He stopped and turned to face Itachi.

"Deidara…" he said again. Out of the corner of his eye Deidara could see Sasuke standing passively in the background. Turning his focus back towards Itachi he asked "What?"

Itachi looked him up and down. "Are you alright?"

Sighing and nodding Deidara looked down. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just…I'm fine, un" he said quickly. Itachi only nodded as he released the blonde who then quickly took off back towards the village.

_He doesn't care. No one does. He just needs me for the mission is all. Besides, he already has a brother…I'm just along for the ride. _

By the time Deidara actually got back to the Akatsuki base dawn had already started to peek over the horizon. Climbing nimbly back up the way he came down, Deidara stopped outside his window checking for any signs of anyone coming. Sighing with relief when he realized no one was there he quietly slipped back inside. Once in he began shaking off the Akatsuki cloak.

_Hm, now that wasn't so hard. Just glad no one decided to check up on me or anything. _

Just then he heard a slight knock on the door.

_Shit! Spoke too soon…._

"Deidara?" he heard Konan's voice call and the handle turned.

"U-uh," Konan entered the room and a look of slight shock came on her face.

_Quick, think of something!_

He gave her sort of a nervous smile. "Uh, hi" was all he could think of.

"I thought I told you not to get up" she admonished beginning to come closer.

Deidara tilted his head "Well, uh, I was feeling better and uh, I didn't feel like sleeping heheh, un" he answered still smiling.

"Your hair is all wet; did you go outside or something?"

Smile vanished "I, uh…well, um…you see…"

"Your clothes are wet too. And why does your cloak have mud on it?" She asked motioning towards the discarded article on the bed.

"Um…"

"Look, I know you were probably just training or whatever but your injuries still need to heal. You can't push it."

Unexpected, but Deidara just decided to roll with it. He didn't really have a better excuse after all.

"Right, training…" he said with a nervous laugh.

"Hm, well, change out of those wet things before you get sick or something. And, wait here for a moment."

Deidara waited as she left the room and then came back with a towel. "Here" she said handing it to him "Dry your hair off too. I'm going to get you some tea, don't even think about leaving!"

"Hai, hai" Deidara said with a wave of his hand. Konan glared at him. "I mean uh, I'm not going anywhere, un!"

"Good" Konan said and spun on her heels, exiting the room.

Deidara let out a sigh of relief.

_I suppose that could have gone a lot worse. _

Quickly, Deidara changed his wet clothes for dry ones. Then, sitting on the edge of the bed, he removed his hitae-ate and ponytail holder and began drying his hair. Presently, Konan came back with a hot cup of tea and something else.

"I figured you were probably hungry too" she said. To be honest, Deidara hadn't given much thought to the matter but now that Konan mentioned it he really was hungry.

"Arigato, un" he said as she handed him the plate and cup. As he ate, Konan began to get out some bandages and other various medical supplies she had brought earlier. Deidara thought he must have looked slightly confused because Konan said, "I need to check your injuries after you finish." He only nodded as he finished up the food Konan had brought. She then took the plate and cup from him as he removed his shirt.

"Do you want to lie down?"

He shook his head "I'm fine, un"

"Alright"

She began carefully unwrapping the bandages, deciding to start with his stomach first which had healed to mostly just a scar now. Looking fairly pleased with the state of affairs she rubbed some ointment on the wound and began rewrapping it with a slightly looser bandage. Then, she moved to his shoulder and began carefully unwrapping the injury there.

Looking it over and frowning a bit, she began work. As soon as she touched it though Deidara hissed in pain and tried to jerk his arm away.

"Deidara…"

"Gomennasai, un"

_Damn that hurts!_

"It looks like you agitated it a bit. Were you using it much?"

"A little I guess…"

Konan sighed. "This is what I was trying to tell you. No more sneaking off alright?"

"Whatever…" he muttered "OW!"

"Gomennasai, Deidara. It looks pretty sore. Did you fall on it or something?"

Taking in a shaky sort of breath, he nodded. "Yeah…it was a little dark…ouch! Damnit!" he hissed.

"Stop moving so much. You're making it worse."

"Gomen…ah, ow!"

Konan shook her head. "This is going to take me a few minutes, you sure you don't want to lie down or something?"

"No, I'm-gah! Ugh, fine-ouch!" Deidara replied, squeezing his eyes tight and clenching his fists.

"Relax Deidara, you're only making it harder"

"Ah…Gomennasai…un…" he gasped relaxing his grip.

Neither of them noticed Pein come into the room.

"How is it?" The Akatsuki leader asked.

Deidara's eyes shot open and he almost jumped up. "Pein-sama!"

Konan was startled for a moment too but quickly regained her composure. "Sit down Deidara" she commanded. Deidara obliged and Konan continued her work. To Pein she said "Better than before. But his shoulder is still pretty bad."

"Hm" Pein mused for a moment. "How do you feel, Deidara?"

"Um, well, alright I guess…OW!" Konan had started cleaning the wound out with something but the injury was still pretty deep.

"Shh, just try and relax" she said as Deidara began clenching his fists again.

Pein moved in closer to Konan to get a better view of the blonde. Deidara saw him shake his head and whisper something to the kunoichi who nodded slowly as she listened.

"Ugh…what did I do, un?"

"Nothing" Pein answered "Nothing at all. I came to talk about the mission"

_Great, is he going to yell at me now or something?_

"Yeah?" Deidara asked, trying to take his mind off the pain.

"Well, you didn't succeed, but the ANBU didn't really either I suppose. But what happened?"

"I was careless and got distracted. Sumimasen, un" Deidara said lowering his head a bit.

"It was only a minor mission Deidara, don't worry. You came back without him but at least he didn't take or kill you. What did he injure you with?"

"He was a lightning style user and he used some weird lightning style jutsu, un"

"I see. Will you be ready for a mission in a couple of days?"

"Hai, I will"

"Pein" Konan said in a low voice.

"What is it?"

"I-"

Her response was cut off by a short cry of pain from Deidara which caused him to instinctively reach out with his right arm and grab hers.

"G-gomennasai, un" he gasped and shakily removed his hand.

"It's alright" she said as she began to bandage up the injury. Turning her face towards Pein she said in a low voice "I need to talk to you"

Pein nodded and watched as she finished up with Deidara and pushed him back down on the bed. "Just rest now, alright?"

Deidara nodded and he thought he saw Konan say something to Pein, but he wasn't sure. He hadn't expected his shoulder to still be in so much pain but it was. Closing his eyes, he tried blocking it out.

_Itachi was right, as always. It's still not healed…but, how long?_

* * *

Nagato knew that when Konan wanted to say something, you listened. He may have been the Akatsuki leader, but Konan could be deadly when she wanted to.

As they left Deidara to rest he asked "What did you need to tell me, Konan?"

"You can't seriously be thinking of sending him on another mission so soon!"

"I don't have much of a choice"

"You saw his injury! It's penetrated deep and he needs rest in order for it to heal properly!"

"So I'm giving him a couple of days"

Konan folded her arms across her chest "You think that's going to be enough? He's in a lot of pain, more than he's showing and you know it."

Nagato sighed "Look, Konan…"

"Shut up. He's still only a kid and he doesn't even have a partner anymore! Why can't you send Hidan and Kakuzu? Or Kisame? Or Zetsu even?"

"Hidan and Kakuzu are doing something for Tobi and you know I have no control over that" Konan sniffed "Kisame is out on a mission already and Zetsu can't do these types of missions"

"Then send me. Honestly Nagato, the boy's not going to last."

"Konan, you know you're needed here."

"Well, can't it wait?"

"Not really. Look, I don't like it either but this time it is Tobi deciding the mission. And he's adamant."

"Tobi" Konan scoffed "Why do we even need to listen to him? We're better off without him anyways."

"Konan"

"I know. I still don't trust him though. Doesn't he know of Deidara's condition?"

"I don't think he cares"

"Tch, he _should_. If only for the sake of his precious little mission."

"Konan…"

"Nagato. The kid. Needs. Rest." she said deliberately "He may be fine for a while but it will catch up with him eventually."

"He gets two days Konan. I had to fight Tobi hard enough for that even. He's strong, he'll be fine."

"Just shut up. I don't want to hear it anymore. Fine if he has to go, fine. But I'm against it" and with that the kunoichi turned and stalked off down the hall.

Nagato sighed and rubbed his head. Konan was right; Deidara should have more than a couple days of rest. His injury was pretty bad. But the kid would be fine. Like he said, Deidara was strong. He'd get over it…he hoped.

* * *

_I don't like this at all._

Deidara was not happy with the state of affairs to say in the least. For one thing he had to go talk to the Hokage now. That hadn't exactly been on his to-do list but seeing as it was really the only option he had he would do it. Of course, he never had to listen to Itachi. But he felt like it was too late now. He had already started this mess so why not go even deeper?

Then, the other thing was the mission Pein had given him. He had been surprised at first but after learning it was Tobi who had thought it up well…now it wasn't as surprising.

_Damn Tobi. Why? He probably just wants to see me suffer or something. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later…but I'm not ready to go back yet…especially not now…too much…_

Then, as soon as he had left he thought something was off. He just had this funny feeling that someone was following him. And his suspicions had proved to be true. He found that both Hidan and Kakuzu had been tailing him. He had asked them why but Kakuzu had stated it was mere coincidence while Hidan just shouted profanities. Really, he didn't expect to get a straight answer out of those two and he felt that there was something more to this but he left it alone for the time being. He had other things to think about and now that they were no longer following him he could get on with it. That is, as far as he knew anyways.

As he was travelling he came upon the small village he had passed the last time he came to Konoha. He was just going to pass it again when he began wondering how the place was doing and instead decided to take a look. But, approaching the place, he saw that it had been deserted. All the people who had survived must have gone to Konoha or something. He wondered why they didn't try and rebuild it or something. Maybe there weren't enough survivors. Maybe it was just not worth it to try.

Something told him that he shouldn't go in and look, but for whatever reason he found himself stepping over the rubble that used to be the entrance and into the destroyed village. Exploring the place, he instantly regretted coming in but for some reason he couldn't leave. The sight and smell was making him sick. Nobody had bothered to move the corpses and so they lay, rotting. Most all had horrendous wounds and Deidara could see places bodies had been slit open with organs hanging out, or heads severed, or limbs missing. He hated it and yet, for whatever reason, he couldn't avert his eyes from the gory sight.

He had pretty much figured out by this time why nobody bothered to fix up the village. He judged by all the bodies that most everyone in the village had been killed and there were probably very few survivors, if any. All the buildings were beyond repair and even if some of them had been salvageable he knew the place could never be one for the living again. He could smell the death, the horror in the air and nothing would ever be able to remove the blood that stained the ground.

A memory flashed through his mind and he cursed the place. After all it had been the trigger to the nightmares…to the memories he had thought he locked safely away. All that time he spent forgetting was in vain now as he couldn't get over the things flashing through his mind. He shivered, not with the cold but with the horrors of the ghost town and the past.

Eventually he came to a small house. Every fiber of his body told him not to go in, but he did anyways and was met with a shocking sight. Kids, children not more than ten each were all lying in a heap. Their bodies were horribly disfigured and the looks that were plastered on their faces was pure horror in and of itself. Deidara quickly dashed back outside and instantly vomited.

Before he knew what he was doing, he molded a couple of high level explosives, dashed out of the village and detonated them. He couldn't take it. Not only was the village a horror scene but the memories that were seemingly triggered by the place were just too much. He watched the village go up in flames.

_At least I could give them somewhat of a funeral…_

Realizing that it was beginning to get late, he pushed back all the memories and the images of the village and started heading towards Konoha again.

* * *

**A/N: Eheh...So, there we go! The last part wasn't actually going to be in the fic but I decided to add it on a whim...I just hope it doesn't mess things up too badly :P**

**Itachi's being all big-brother like to Deidara...xD But then he's ignoring Deidara...silly Itachi. And yeah, Deidara's fine for now but remember what Itachi said dear readers, because I don't think Deidara will...xD  
**

**Thanks to everyone who reviews! Hopefully I'm living up to your expectations!  
**

**Japanese Reference:  
**

Kun = Japanese honorific used for young boys and teens. Term of endearment.  
Kasan = Mom/Mommy  
Arigato/Arigato Gozaimasu = Thanks/Thank You  
Gomen/Gomennasai = Sorry/I'm Sorry/Excuse Me  
Hitae-ate = Forehead protector  
Nii = Japanese honorific meaning big brother.  
Hai = Yes  
Sama = Lord/Lady  
Sumimasen = I'm sorry (more formal than Gomen/Gomennasai)


	9. A Tea Party

**A/N: Ai! Finally got this chapter up! I'm soooo sorry it took so long! My computer broke so I've been sharing one with my brother which means I haven't had as much time to write...I'm soooooo sorry! Hoping this chapter is pretty good though...**

**Yeah, by next chapter I think we'll finally be getting into more of Deidara's past...I must say, I did not expect the events in this chapter to turn out the way they had at all. But oh well...sometimes that happens.  
**

**Anyways, enough chat. Enjoy the chapter!  
**

**Deidara says I still don't own the Naruto characters T_T**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Nine: A Tea Party**

* * *

Deidara was liking this plan less and less by the minute. He had finally gotten to Konoha and met up with both Sasuke and Sakura. Upon arrival he found out that they would go somewhere outside of Konoha to have the meeting with the Hokage. Why, he couldn't tell but he didn't like the idea of having to travel too far past the village. However, there was really nothing to be done for it; he was there and he couldn't very well just get up and leave. Well, he could, but then Itachi might hunt him down or something. Besides, he really didn't want to have to start on his mission for Akatsuki right at that very moment.

Sakura was now leading Deidara to the tea shop that they were all going to meet up at while Sasuke went to get the Hokage. She, of course, wouldn't be there in the actual meeting but would be in the vicinity. They didn't talk much in Konoha and the silence continued outside of the village. But, once out of sight range, Sakura spoke up.

"So, how's your shoulder?" she ventured

"Alright I suppose, un"

She nodded. "That's…good…"

They walked on in silence for a bit more.

"Do you think…I mean…well…has Akatsuki found out yet?"

"Hm? Oh well, they might have an idea. Or at least, Tobi probably does. But I don't think they actually have any evidence or anything yet, un"

"Oh…" she was quiet for a moment more, contemplating this. Then she said, "What are you going to tell Tsunade-shisho?"

"Depends on what she asks I guess, un"

"You don't have a plan?"

"No"

"That's rather stupid"

"Maybe. It's how I work, un"

"Hm"

Deidara sighed. He really didn't know what to tell the Hokage. Like he told Sakura, it would depend on what she asked. He would just have to be careful not to slip anything about being with Akatsuki and he should be fine. Yeah, this was going to be easy. Hopefully.

"If you want my advice" Sakura began "just try and keep it on the mission"

Deidara nodded "Mhm, I wasn't planning on talking about much else. Hey, how much farther is this place anyways, un?"

"Not too far. We should be there in twenty minutes or less. Anyways, just don't make her mad"

"Heh, I wasn't planning on it. But why not, un?"

"Because she'll pound you up good, that's _why._ Stupid question" she muttered.

Deidara had to laugh

"What's so funny? You don't think she's strong? Because she is"

"Oh ye of little faith. And you think that I wouldn't put up a good fight? I highly doubt either of us would come out unscathed, un" he answered, winking at the kunoichi.

"Just don't do it!" Sakura said, slightly flustered.

"Worried much, un?"

"NO! Well, no, that's not what I meant…I mean…" Deidara smirked "Ugh! You're annoying!"

"Arigato, un" he said, still smirking.

"That's not a good thing!" She practically screamed

"Maybe, maybe not. Eh, don't worry about it. I'm not, un" he said, waving his hand.

"Hmph. You should still be more prepared. Honestly, who taught you to be a ninja anyways?"

* * *

Sakura had meant her last statement as a sort-of teasing. All the same, Deidara suddenly became very quiet. Had she known what his reaction would have been she wouldn't have said it. She may not have trusted the blonde, but she wasn't cruel. She just didn't think, after all his carefree laughing and talking, that he would really mind. But he did.

"Um, gomennasai…I didn't mean to be…like that…" she said quietly.

"My mother, un" he spoke up.

"What?" _Huh? What's he talking about?_

"My mother, she taught me originally, un"

"Oh…" Deidara had a faraway look in his eye as he gazed straight forward.

"She gave me this, un" he said, pointing at his hitae-ate.

Sakura blinked a couple of times. _Is that why he was so attached to it?_

"Before she died" he continued "She gave it to me…that night…" He trailed off as he continued to look forward. Then he turned his head toward Sakura, giving her a sad sort of smile before turning his head back forward.

"Gomennasai…I didn't mean-"

"You didn't know, un" he said abruptly.

"Right, well, we're here anyways. Good luck with Tsunade-shisho and all. I'm still going to be hanging around after so don't dash off"

"I don't intend to, un"

"Good"

* * *

The minutes wore by and still there was no sign of the Hokage or Sasuke. Deidara was beginning to get a bit nervous and shifted in his seat. He felt like he was losing his mind in the small teahouse, or maybe it was just the wait. Either way, he couldn't take much more. It had only been about five minutes since he had first arrived with Sakura but it felt like hours to the blonde. He wanted to go; he wasn't comfortable here. It wasn't that there was a whole lot of people or anything, but the teahouse owner had looked at him kind of funny when he had first come in. He supposed it wasn't every day you saw a lone shinobi walk in.

He had, of course taken off the Akatsuki cloak and stashed it someplace outside the shack. He did still have his hitae-ate and ring, but those were less noticeable than the bulky cloak. Still, he somehow felt less protected without it. He knew that it hadn't been entirely necessary to take the cloak off. Supposedly, from the area he was sitting, the Hokage wouldn't be able to see him very well anyways so it wouldn't matter if he had the cloak or not. Still, he hadn't wanted to take any chances.

He played with his tea, swirling it around in the cup. He really wished he could get this over with so that he could go and finish the damn mission for Akatsuki already. He had been in no rush before to get the mission done but after talking to Sakura he realized the sooner he got it over with the better. Then maybe he could stop thinking about the place, or at least having a reason to think about it.

Just then he felt a couple chakra signatures in the area and immediately perked up, recognizing one of the two as Sasuke's. He saw the young Uchiha enter with the Hokage and he nodded over at them. Sasuke noticed and said something to the Hokage before coming over.

Leaning in a bit, he whispered "She kind of really wants to see you"

"I thought we agreed that she wouldn't have to yet, un"

"I know. I'm simply warning you. She has her mind made up to do it before we leave."

"Hn" Deidara nodded. Sasuke then walked back over to the Hokage, returning with her. Deidara was silent as she sat down, across from him and only hoped that she couldn't indeed see him too well. Sasuke just stood to the side.

"So" Tsunade began "You're our mystery messenger?"

Deidara nodded.

"Are you going to answer? I can't see you ya know, but we can fix that if you want."

"Uh, hai, I mean, no, I mean…uh…"

_Shit_

Tsunade chuckled lightly "So you're from Iwa? You definitely sound like it"

"Hai, un"

"Well, do you mind telling us your name? It would make things easier"

"Mm…maybe, but, that's not really important right now, un"

"Why not?"

_Think Deidara, think!_

"Minor detail, un"

"Look, you don't have to be afraid. I don't want to hurt you and we're not going to tell your village or anything, so really, I just want to help is all."

"Well, you see…this information _is_ top secret. If anyone were to find out that I was giving Konoha info and not anyone else I'd be seriously screwed. You can't be too careful after all. Besides, you should probably read this anyways, un" And with that he tossed her over the latest scroll Itachi had sent.

She took the item, unrolled it, and read quietly to herself for a bit. Finishing she said, "Right, well, arigato. This has been, no is, very useful for us. But I'm curious, why don't you give it to Iwa? Why travel all this way south to give it to a rival nation"

"We're not really rivals…un…"

"For the sake of this war, no, you're right, we're not. But, I know Iwa doesn't like us much, so why?"

_Shit_

"Well…I think it benefits you guys more anyways" he said scratching his head "Besides, Iwa probably wouldn't listen to me, un"

"Why is that?"

_Crap. Why'd I say that? I'm getting too personal with her…_

Deidara opened his mouth to reply when suddenly, someone entered the teashop. Two someones, in fact.

"Yo, blondie, what the f*** are you doing here?"

"Hidan, don't cause a scene"

_SHIT! What the hell are these two doing here? Damnit! I'm so screwed…_

Deidara remained silent, hoping that there maybe was someone else in the room that happened to be blonde and looked like they could potentially know Hidan. Unfortunately, there _was_ another blonde in the room, Tsunade. And she hadn't been pleased.

"Excuse me, are you talking to me?" She said in a dangerously low voice, getting up.

"Not you, bitch. Dei-chan over there." Hidan said pointing in Deidara's direction. Deidara really wished he could be invisible right then and there.

_Go away, Hidan! Just leave; you don't know me._

Tsunade cracked her knuckles and took a step closer to Hidan.

"_What_ was that you said?" Then, she caught a glimpse of their Akatsuki cloaks "Akatsuki?!"

Sasuke cast a desperate glance towards Deidara who took it as his queue to leave. Getting up as quietly as he could while Tsunade and Hidan were still arguing he tried to slip away. Unfortunately, Kakuzu was still there.

"Where do you think you're going, Deidara?"

Deidara froze as he felt everyone's gaze turn towards him and the room became unbearably silent. Minus the five ninja, there was no one else in the teashop at the moment but Deidara felt as if there were thousands of people glaring at him.

Tsunade spoke up "Deidara…is that your name?"

"Eheheh…I guess so, un" he said with a shrug.

"How do you know these Akatsuki?"

"Well…um…I…"

"No shit!" Hidan shouted "He's f****** one of us you old baka!"

"Sasuke?" Tsunade said, shifting her gaze towards the Uchiha "What do you know about this?"

Sasuke stared blankly at Tsunade for a moment.

_Come on Uchiha! Do something!_

"I don't know what's going on here" he said finally.

_Ugh! NO! Come on! Oh, this is bad…this is very, very bad._

Technically, it was true. Sasuke didn't know what was going on at the moment. Neither did Deidara for that matter. But the stupid Uchiha had made it seem like he had known nothing about this the whole time which only made it look like Deidara had been deceiving them.

While cursing Itachi, Sasuke, and any other Uchiha who ever lived under his breath, Deidara said, "Well, I don't either…un"

"Like hell you don't!" Hidan said "Come on blondie, take it like a man. Oh wait, I forgot, you're a girl. HAHAHAHAHA!" Hidan laughed like it was the funniest joke in the world and if Deidara hadn't been so nervous he probably would have exploded at Hidan. Or, exploded him in general. Tsunade only seemed to be getting more and more confused, and also angry. Kakuzu just rolled his eyes at his partner.

"Shut up Hidan, before I make you. Deidara, you're coming with us. I'm sure Tobi and you can have a very…interesting chat."

Deidara knew his innocent act wasn't going to work anymore so he dropped it. "I'm staying, un"

_Crap, what did I just say? _

"Deidara. Now." Kakuzu said in a warning voice.

_Ok, I can fix this…just think…_

"I've got business here, un"

"As far as we know you're not supposed to be here at all"

"Shows just how little you know then, un"

"Alright, I'm f****** tired of this shit! Either you come, blondie, or we make you come!" Hidan interrupted, pointing his scythe at Deidara.

"Sasuke…" Tsunade began

"Hai?" The Uchiha answered and Deidara could detect the very faintest hints of nervousness in his voice.

"What. Is. Going. On. Here?" Deidara knew with that tone of voice that she hadn't exactly believed Sasuke's earlier statement.

Sasuke blinked slowly. "I don't know about these other two, but he's alright" Sasuke finally answered, nodding in Deidara's direction.

Turning to Deidara she asked "Are you with them? Are you with Akatsuki?"

Deidara just stared for a moment. If he said yes, he would be in trouble with the Hokage. But if he said no then he risked Tobi finding out about their plans.

He opened his mouth to answer but Hidan interrupted. "So I guess you want to do this the hard way then, eh Dei-chan? Fine by me then. Oi, you, old bitch, get the f*** outta my way!"

Tsunade turned around slowly "_What_ was that?"

"Yeah, you heard me you hag. Move it before I make you!"

"_Hidan_" Kakuzu warned but a little too late because just then Hidan rushed at Tsunade who did the same. Rolling his eyes and mumbling something about his stupid partner, he joined in the fight. Sasuke and Deidara stood back a bit, watching the three ninja have it out.

Sasuke leaned in next to Deidara "Why the hell are they here?"

"Tch, I don't know! Tobi must've sent them…"

"This isn't good"

"Tell me something I don't know, un"

"What do you want to do?"

"What can we do?"

"Sasuke!" Tsunade called back "What the hell are you doing standing around back there? Get that Akatsuki!"

"Yo, blondie! Don't f*** around! Kill her bodyguard already so we can get outta here!"

Sasuke shot Deidara an apologetic look as he pulled out his katana and took up a fighting stance.

"Hey, don't feel too bad. If this didn't happen now something else probably would've later, un" Deidara said as he jumped back a bit and pulled out some clay.

Sasuke only nodded and rushed at the blonde ninja again, the feeling all too familiar.

* * *

"Come on you guys, hurry up already! Geez, you take forever!"

"It's you who's going too fast Naruto" Sai called back

"Yeah, well, we need to get a move on if we wanna finish this mission! Oh hey! I see a teashop up ahead! Can we stop?"

"We don't really have a whole lot of time" Yamato answered

"Aw, come on! I'm going! You guys are taking too long anyways! Hey, I'll get you guys something too. See ya!"

Yamato sighed as Naruto dashed off. "So impatient…" he murmured, shaking his head.

* * *

Deidara blocked another one of Sasuke's blows forcing both shinobi to jump back. The fight was even harder than the first time. Neither ninja wanted to injure the other but they both knew that they had to fight if they wanted to keep their already precarious covers. And Deidara knew that even after the fight both the Hokage and Tobi would be questioning their respective subordinates. Oh, they were in quite a pickle.

_Stupid Hidan, Kakuzu. I thought I got rid of them! Ugh…apparently not…now what the hell am I supposed to do? _

Just then, someone burst into the teashop. Deidara could see Sasuke look up and visibly roll his eyes, muttering something under his breath. Curiosity getting the better of him, Deidara turned his head for a slight moment to look at the newcomer.

_The Kyuubi jinchuuriki? What was his name again? …Naruto…yeah, that's right…oh shit…I think I remember now…_

Deidara quickly turned his attention back to Sasuke. "Woah!" Naruto exclaimed "Granny Tsunade, what's going on here?"

"Get back Naruto!" Tsunade shouted "They're Akatsuki!"

"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, waving at the Uchiha "You're here too? What's going on? If you're fighting Akatsuki I want in!"

Hidan turned his head as well. "Well, what do ya know? It's the Kyuubi kid! Come on Kakuzu!"

"Shut up Hidan! Don't forget our mission!"

"Eh, worry about blondie later. If he f**** up that's his problem. Now let's get the prize!" and with that he aimed an attack at Naruto only to be stopped by Tsunade.

"Naruto I said get out!"

Naruto instead made his way around Hidan and towards Sasuke. "Come on Sasuke, you'll let me stay, right?"

"Do what the Hokage says and get out of here you dobe. I don't have time for this."

"Sasuke! Quit messing around and finish him already!"

"Hai!"

He aimed another blow at Deidara only to be blocked again. "Sasuke" Deidara whispered "Make sure everyone gets out. I'm going to blow this place up to create a diversion so everyone can get away, un"

"Right…" Sasuke nodded and jumped back. He then grabbed Naruto and pushed him towards the front exit. "Get out there, and stay out there!"

"But-"

"Shut up!"

Deidara meanwhile molded some higher level explosives, placed them, and headed towards the front exit. "Yo, Hidan, Kakuzu!" The two turned to face him "See ya!" And he dashed out the back exit, detonating the explosives.

Kakuzu, guessing what was going on, grabbed Hidan and immediately chased after Deidara. Sasuke, who had pushed Naruto out the other way, followed Tsunade, who had gone after Hidan and Kakuzu. The place went up in smoke and Sasuke watched as the building fell to the ground.

"Come on Sasuke! They went this way!" Tsunade said and headed off after the Akatsuki.

"But Hokage-sama…"

"Damnit Sasuke! I want to know what's going on and kami, I'm going to find out. Now either you come or I put you in solitary confinement when we get back to Konoha which at this rate I might end up doing anyways!" She said, and jumped after the Akatsuki.

"Hai" Sasuke nodded, and followed.

* * *

Naruto, meanwhile, had come out the other exit completely unharmed. "Oi, Yamato! Sai!" He shouted, running up to his teammates.

"Naruto, what did you do this time?" Sai asked, nodding at the destroyed teashop.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you! Akatsuki were in there! Three of them! And granny Tsunade and Sasuke were fighting them!"

"Come on Naruto, what really happened?" Yamato asked

"But, it's the truth! They're right there! Look right-hey!" Naruto said as he turned "Well, uh, they were there a minute ago!"

"Seriously Naruto, why would the Hokage leave Konoha anyways?" Sai asked

"I don't know! But she was there! I swear!"

"Naruto, come on. There's no one here. What did you do to the teashop?"

"NOTHING! Come on, why don't you guys believe me?"

"_Naruto_" Yamato said using his 'scary face'

"U-uh, right…let's just…go"

"Good"

* * *

Deidara ran for a good while and eventually stopped, hid, masked his chakra, and waited. Presently, he heard Kakuzu and Hidan coming. Hidan was, of course, shouting profanities while Kakuzu just shook his head and ignored his partner. Deidara said nothing but only stayed hidden until the two passed him by. Even so, he waited a good fifteen minutes before he decided to even peek out of his hiding place and he kept his chakra masked, just in case.

Hidan and Kakuzu coming had really messed things up. Maybe he should have mentioned that he had been followed by the two earlier to Sasuke, but at the time he just hadn't thought of it. He had too much on his mind already. He only hoped that everyone else had gotten away alright. He knew the teashop owner had gotten out since the man hadn't been inside when the place detonated. And there were no other customers in the shop so that only left the ninja. He had told Sasuke so it should have been enough.

He felt bad for the teashop owner, but there hadn't been much he could do. If the battle had gone on much longer the consequences would have been deadly. And even if he had gotten out of the whole thing alive, he knew that Tobi would probably have had him killed. In fact, Tobi still might do that. Honestly, he wasn't sure. He was going to have to come up with a pretty good story for that one, especially since Hidan and Kakuzu had been there. And he didn't know how long the two had been following him in the first place. Had they seen him with Sakura? If so, he might be in even more trouble.

But, he couldn't worry about that just yet. He had to figure out some way to contact Sasuke or something and see what the Uchiha wanted to do. Then he had his stupid mission to complete for Akatsuki. Tobi would have to wait until later. Suddenly, he sensed a chakra presence in the area. Quickly resuming his hiding place he waited.

"Oh, Sakura-san" he said upon seeing the pink-haired kunoichi.

"There you are! Thank goodness! I saw what happened to the teashop; you alright? Where's Sasuke? What happened?"

"Um, one at a time please, un"

"Gomen, but what went on in there?"

"A couple other Akatsuki had apparently been following me and they kinda came into the shop and messed things up, un"

"Oh…oh dear…what happened?"

"Well, your Hokage found out about Akatsuki and me. Or, at least, she definitely suspects something. I'm pretty sure everyone got out alright, there were no civilians or anything in there. And the other two Akatsuki just passed me by so we should be safe from them for a while, un"

"Hm…but what about Sasuke and Tsunade-shisho?"

"I don't know where they are…I'm sure they got out fine though. Oh, you're friend, Naruto? He came in too…"

"What was Nartuo doing there?" Sakura exclaimed in obvious surprise.

"I don't know…but Sasuke got him out so he should be fine, un"

"Well, I certainly hope he doesn't get involved in this mess. At least not yet anyways. We can't deal with him now!"

Deidara only nodded. All at once, he froze in his position, sensing two chakra presences in the area. Sakura looked curiously at Deidara and seemed like she wanted to ask about his strange behavior before she figured it out and visibly paled.

Deidara masked his chakra and Sakura did the same both trying to get away to hide.

But before they could get back, Tsunade and Sasuke came into view. Deidara, hoping that his chakra had been masked sufficiently and that the two hadn't seen him or noticed him, tried to quietly slip away. Unfortunately though, Tsunade had seen him.

"Hey you! We weren't finished with our conversation!" She shouted at Deidara

"Don't be so loud please. We don't want those two coming back, un"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms while Sasuke shifted nervously next to her. "So, mind explaining all of this? You better have a pretty damn good story because I swear you'll be dead if you don't. And you!" She said, turning to Sasuke who had tried to back off a bit "I'm not done with you either. _You_ especially have some explaining to do Sasuke." Then, she noticed Sakura as well. "Sakura? What are you doing here?" The kunoichi shifted uncomfortably. "Kami, I suppose I'm in for some surprises. Well, I'm waiting"

Sasuke and Deidara exchanged glances. "Look don't try and hide anything, alright? Are you Akatsuki?"

Deidara tilted his head "Yes and no, un"

Tsunade glared "What do you mean by that?"

"Yes, Akatsuki thinks I'm with them. No, I'm not really an Akatsuki anymore, un."

"What's your name?"

"Deidara"

"Surname?"

"…I'd prefer not to say yet, un"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Well, it doesn't matter anyways. I'm pretty sure I recognize your name and face from the bingo book. Rogue from Iwa if I recall correctly"

Deidara nodded slowly "Hai…"

"S-class, former captain of the Explosion Corps, clay user" Tsunade said, marking off facts as Deidara only nodded.

"And, you posses one of Iwa's powerful kekkei genkai's, the Explosion Release, am I right?"

"Hai…"

"Well, Deidara, can you kindly explain to me what the hell you are doing around here?"

"Um, Tsunade-shisho?"

"What is it?" Tsunade irritably asked her student.

"Please, just listen to me for a moment. Don't be too hard on Deidara, or Sasuke. They're only trying to help, really. Deidara's not really with those other Akatsuki, I mean, I'll let them explain. But please, hear them out and don't be too mad. They were trying their best and they didn't mean for things to come out this way."

Tsunade only nodded and turned her focus back towards Deidara who was now looking at Sakura with a raised eyebrow in slight surprise.

"She might listen to me better since I'm her student and all…thought I'd try and help" she whispered to the blonde.

Deidara nodded discreetly. "Well" Tsunade began "It seems you even have my student believing you so tell me, what's your story?"

"It's kinda long…" Deidara started

"We have time. Try me."

Nodding he continued "Well, uh, you know Itachi Uchiha, right? Of course you do, he was from Konoha. He wants to take out Akatsuki, and I'm helping him, simply put, un"

"Itachi's dead"

"No, he's not" Sasuke cut in "I saw him myself"

"How?"

"The battle with Orochimaru was just a ruse, un"

"So, let me get this straight. Itachi has a plan to take down Akatsuki and you're helping him?"

"Hai"

"Why?"

"Well, I don't think I have to explain about Itachi much since you all probably know the truth about the Uchiha clan massacre now. But anyways, basically, Itachi didn't like what Akatsuki was doing so he wanted to take them out from the inside, un"

"No, I get that. I mean, what are _you_ doing?"

"Helping Itachi because I don't like Akatsuki, un"

"You know, from my understanding, Akatsuki isn't exactly the easiest organization to get into. Even if they are a band of rogues they have to be strong and I know many rogue ninja who would kill for a position with Akatsuki. So, if you, as a rogue, landed a position there, why don't you like them and why'd you join in the first place?"

"Um, yeah, this might be a surprise to you, but I didn't actually ask to join Akatsuki. They kind of just, picked me. I never wanted to be a part of their organization, un"

"So then, why didn't you say no to them?"

"They forced me to join. And you can't just leave. Akatsuki leaves you, not the other way around, un"

"Hmm…how did they force you?"

"Itachi did"

"But you're helping him"

"Hai"

"That doesn't make sense"

"I never said it did. Look, all you have to know is that I hate Akatsuki and I'm helping Itachi, alright, un?"

"Hm. I suppose Itachi's alright enough…though if he's alive I'll be wanting a word with him too. Still not too sure about a rogue Iwa ninja, but whatever. Let's hear this plan." And Deidara explained the entirety of Itachi's plan to Tsunade.

When he had finished, Tsunade tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You sound legit enough, but basically, I'm just supposed to trust your word?"

Deidara shrugged "I guess…un"

"And you" she turned to Sasuke "You knew about this the whole time?"

"Not the whole time. Only since you sent me to capture him"

"Ah, I get it now; you're the Akatsuki who was hanging around that village. And Sakura, when did you find out about all of this?"

"Um, when Sasuke came back to the village?"

"So Sasuke, you told her but not your Hokage?" Sasuke shifted uncomfortably

"He wouldn't have told me either!" Sakura said quickly "But um…you see…Deidara was injured and so…"

"So he told you because he wanted your help?"

"Hai…"

"And you just trusted an Akatsuki member, just like that? The both of you? I never really expected such carelessness, especially from you, Sasuke"

"What pretense does he have to lie?" Sasuke pointed out "I was taking a risk but I found out later it was true. I saw Itachi."

"Hm"

"…Does this mean you don't believe me, un?" Deidara wanted to know.

"Not necessarily, but still" she said, turning to Sasuke and Sakura "You two do know that I could have you arrested and potentially executed for aiding and abetting an Akatsuki member of all people? Sasuke, this looks especially bad for you, need I remind you of your already precarious status. And you" turning to Deidara "I'm sure you already know full well of what happens to rogue ninja. Akatsuki at that."

They all nodded. "So…what are you going to do Tsunade-shiso?"

Tsunade put a hand on her forehead. Then, turning to Deidara she said "Where are you going now?"

"Iwa, un"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"Akatsuki…they're making me go on a mission there, un"

"What kind of mission?"

"Just scouting and recon, un"

"What were those other two Akatsuki doing who came into the teashop earlier?"

"I honestly don't know. I think Tobi has been getting suspicious and sent them to follow me around, un"

"Hm…well, I'll tell you what, I'm willing to trust you for now. Apparently, two of my best ninja trust you and I'll be content with their judgments. Still, I'm warning you that I may not trust you one hundred percent and if you do anything that seems to be against Konoha or any of my ninja in anyway, you can be sure it won't end well for you. Sasuke and Sakura will go with you on your mission for the Akatsuki. They can help with keeping an eye out for those other two. When it's time for you to go back to Akatsuki they'll come back to Konoha and report. We'll figure out what to do from there, alright?"

Deidara wasn't really sure he wanted the Konoha ninja coming with him. Other than the obvious reasons, there were just things in Iwa that he didn't want them to see. Secrets he didn't want revealed and it was much harder to keep these to yourself when you had other people following you around. Still, he knew the Hokage had been pretty generous and he didn't really want to make her mad or anything. He knew he already had to deal with Tobi, and he was dreading that.

"Hai, arigato gozaimasu, un"

"Don't thank me yet kid. We still need to figure out what's going to happen after this. Just don't do anything stupid and you'll be alright."

Deidara nodded. Glancing over towards Sakura and Sasuke he said "You guys ready? I really need to go now, un"

Sasuke looked at the Hokage who nodded. He then nodded towards Sakura and the two started heading off with Deidara.

"So, how long is this going to take?"

"Outside of travel time not more than a couple of days, un."

"Right" Tsunade said, nodding. "Sasuke, Sakura, I'll see you in about a week or two then. Just remember what I said earlier"

"Hai" Sasuke said. Deidara nodded and led the way, towards Iwa.

* * *

**A/N: Welp, there you go! Hope you enjoyed :3 My brother reeeally wanted me to add the bit with Naruto so I did to please him :P Hope it didn't detract too much from the fic...**

**Yeah..they're all kinda in some shit now xD And I promise we're getting close to Deidara's past...next chapter should be the beginning of it then most of chapter 11 will be all that, I PROMISE! And, I'll try and get these out quickly...I'm still working on my other fic too so updates may start taking longer. I SOWEE! D:  
**

**Stupid computers...u_u  
**

**Well, thanks to all who review and support me! It really means a lot, so thanks!  
**

**Too tired to do a Jap. Reference tonight...maybe tomorrow after work...it's 2am here after all!  
**


	10. Pain

**A/N: Chapter 10! Double digits! Who wants to party? Anyways, I made a slightly longer chapter than normal this time to sort of celebrate :3 I still don't think this fic is even half over yet though...I have many more ideas for it...but, we'll see! **

**I hope the part with Deidara's dream is understandable...I knew exactly what I was trying to write but actually writing it is another matter entirely! So I hope it's alright...  
**

**Also, I think this is the first chapter I've written that is entirely in Deidara's POV. I might just start writing the whole fic that way...not sure. I'll see how I like it.  
**

**Getting tired of saying this but I still don't own any of the characters in this fic.  
**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Pain**

* * *

For a good part of the way, no one said anything, all deep in thought. Deidara particularly was wondering exactly how Itachi would react to all of this and exactly what he was going to tell Tobi. He wasn't entirely sure how much Hidan and Kakuzu had heard but for the time being, it was probably safe to assume everything. And, if that were the case, then he was going to have to think up something really good to tell Tobi who was already suspicious enough.

Eh, he'd have to worry about that later. Right now he had to deal with the matter at hand, namely a certain mission. Or to put it bluntly, Iwa. He was already averse enough to going there; after all, what rogue ninja in their right mind would _want_ to return to the exact village that was trying to capture/kill them? Though, honestly, he didn't necessarily hate his village, it was just…he was afraid.

_No, I'm not, not afraid…I…I hate them! After all, they hate me. Who cares about that damned village anyways? I…don't…not at all. This should be easy; they deserve it, all of them. I don't care…not really…I shouldn't feel bad about this. I don't care…they can't do anything to me…but…__**he's**__ there…what does it matter? I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. _

Deidara sighed inwardly. He didn't care, he told himself, it didn't matter, none of it. But it did. He wasn't scared, he told himself, why should he be? But he was. Stupid feelings. He didn't care. But he did.

_It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. _

It did matter. That village had been his life. He knew people there. He had memories there.

_I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I'm not scared._

He was scared. There were people he didn't want to meet. Memories he didn't want to relive. Sights he didn't want to see.

_I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. _

He didn't hate them. He didn't hate his village. He couldn't. It wasn't their fault. It was his.

_I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. _

He cared. He cared about the village. He cared about the people. He cared.

"Hey, Deidara, did you hear me? Hello? Sasuke, make him say something!"

Deidara was snapped out of his thoughts by Sakura. He turned his head to the impatient looking kunoichi and saw Sasuke shake his head and roll his eyes behind her.

"Gomennasai. What were you saying, un?"

"I said, how long is it going to take us to get there?"

"Six days, at the most, un"

"That's what I _said_" Sasuke muttered. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Get over yourself" She told the Uchiha. She and Sasuke then began discussing something which Deidara didn't really hear. He was thinking again.

_What am I going to do with them once I get there? Just…let them follow me I suppose…stay away from those…places…I don't know if I can do this…I'm being stupid; of course I can! They're a bunch of selfish jerks and I hate them all! But…still…_

"Deidara!"

"Huh?"

Sakura sighed. "How much longer are we going to travel for? It's beginning to get dark."

Deidara blinked a few times while gazing out and the sun, quickly sinking below the horizon. "Maybe another hour, not more than that though, un"

She nodded and continued her discussion with Sasuke.

_I wonder…do they even remember? Of course they do…stupid question…but they don't care…they don't care to listen…why should I? I…don't…I don't care…I don't…I…can do this…I…I think…no, I know…no…I don't know…ugh…They deserve this. They deserve this. They deserve this. They…no…they don't…_

"_Um, Deidara?"_

_Do they? Yes…no…I don't know…I can't do this…I have to…No I don't…_

"_Deidara"_

_I…I'm not sure…I should…I don't know…What if __**he **__comes? What about…that place…what if…I can't think…_

Someone grabbed Deidara by his injured shoulder, gently, but enough to make him stop in his tracks and face whoever it was.

"Deidara" Sasuke said, locking his gaze with the blonde's. Deidara just stared at him for a moment, not exactly sure what had been going on.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked "You seem kinda out of it." She looked, worried? No, he was reading too much into it.

_Nobody cares._

Slowly, he nodded. "I'm…fine, un" he told them.

"We should stop for the night" Sasuke said, dropping his arm. Deidara nodded.

"Over there, un" he said, pointing in a general direction and began to make his way over. Sasuke and Sakura followed close behind and, upon reaching the area, began setting up camp.

Soon after, Sasuke went to go scout the area and pick up some wood to cook their food. Deidara sat with his back to a tree, looking up at the sky, and thinking. He didn't know what Sakura was doing, probably fooling with her shelter or something. Maybe helping Sasuke. It didn't matter.

_Why? Why me?_

He heard someone come and sit beside him but pretended not to notice.

_It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. _

Sakura cleared her throat a couple times but Deidara still pretended not to notice her.

_I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. _

"Hey" she said softly. He couldn't ignore her anymore. Slowly, he turned his head towards her.

"Hey, un" he said with a weak smile.

"Are you sure you're alright? Does your shoulder hurt still?" She asked.

"I'm fine, un" he turned his gaze back towards the sky.

"Seriously, you're looking a little pale, what's wrong? Do you feel sick?"

"No" he sighed "Not really, un"

"Not really?"

""I'm fine…I'm fine…" He wasn't so sure he was even convincing himself anymore.

"Deidara…"

"Why do you care, un?" He asked suddenly. "I said I'm fine; just leave me alone, un!"

Sakura looked at him with an unreadable expression. Finally she said, "It's the mission, isn't it?"

"It's…it's…it's none of your business, un!" He answered, almost shouting.

Sakura sighed. "It is the mission. Deidara, trust me, we just want to help. Please, what's wrong?"

He crossed his arms and frowned as he stared at the sky.

"I promise…I won't tell. I just want to help. I'm serious."

It was hard enough for him to believe. Nobody ever wanted to listen. Nobody ever cared. Why should she? But, for whatever reason, desperation, loneliness, fear, he told her.

"I don't want to go back" he whispered "I don't…I don't want to see them again. Not now. I don't want to…I don't want to go back…I don't…" he broke off. He couldn't finish. He didn't know what to say.

Sakura put a hand on his shoulder.

"I…I wanted to…I wanted to get back into the village…but not like this. I didn't want this. I don't want to go back like this…"

"I'm…sorry…" was all Sakura said. Deidara hugged his knees to his chest. He just wanted her to go away. He didn't want to talk to her anymore. He wanted to be left to his misery in peace. She didn't understand. She couldn't. And she didn't care anyways. It was just a simple interest for her to pass the time. Or she was just trying to keep up appearances. She didn't care. She didn't care.

"Just…go away…please…go away…un…" He almost whimpered, pressing his face to his knees. _Kami, pull yourself together idiot! You sound like a baby!_

He didn't see what Sakura did, but he felt her leave. Slowly, he looked up and saw that she was indeed gone. It was fine. He didn't need her. She didn't care. He was fine by himself. He was fine.

An hour later, he heard Sasuke come back and he heard Sakura talking to him in a low voice. He didn't hear what they said but he was pretty sure he knew what they were talking about. Slowly uncurling himself and standing up, he made his way back to their little camp. He felt more composed now, for whatever reason.

_I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. _

Sasuke noticed him first and nodded at the blonde. Deidara gave him a sort of half wave. Sakura turned around and, seeing that Deidara was there, stopped talking and just stared at him a bit.

"There's food over there" Sasuke said, pointing and Deidara made his way over towards it, taking some.

"So, it shouldn't take us more than five more days to get there, un" Deidara began, in an attempt to make conversation.

Sasuke nodded. "You said we're only going to be there for a couple of days at the most, right?"

"Yeah, shouldn't take me too long, un"

"Hn"

"I can take the first watch, un"

"Alright, fine with me" Sasuke said. Sakura elbowed him in the stomach. "What?" He asked her. Sakura rolled her eyes and Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"Am I missing something, un?"

"No, it's fine" Sasuke said. Sakura elbowed him again and Deidara smirked. He could do this. This would work.

_I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine._

* * *

The days went by, a little too quickly for Deidara's liking. But, besides the first day, he had been able to keep his composure and managed not to zone out at all. Travel was uneventful for the most part. The worst enemies the trio came upon had been a herd of angry wild boar who they quickly disposed of. Still, all too soon they crossed the borders into the Land of Earth.

"We should be in Iwa by tomorrow, un" Deidara said that night.

"Well, it only took us four days then" said Sakura "Not so bad"

"I only said six in case of distractions, which we had none, un"

"None except those boars" Sasuke spoke up from his dinner.

"Yeah, and whose fault was that?" Sakura asked in a suggesting tone.

"I wasn't implying blame on anyone" Sasuke answered indignantly "I was simply stating a fact"

"That's because it was your fault, un" Deidara said smirking.

"It was an accident" Sasuke insisted "And besides, I was only trying to remove the roadblock"

"We could have gone around, um, right Deidara?"

"Eh, yeah, probably" Sasuke glared "But this way was more fun anyways, un" he said, laughing a bit. The others joined in.

"You know," Sakura began "If we were rookies we might have been killed."

"Good thing we're not rookies then, un!"

"Indeed. Good thing we weren't the grass" Sasuke added. They all laughed again.

Deidara sighed and leaned back against a rock as Sakura began retelling the whole event, using her hands animatedly.

_I wonder what it's like to be like this all the time. Or most of the time anyways. Must be nice. I wonder what will happen after this mission. I wonder…_

Deciding not to think too much about the matter, he turned to lie down and closed his eyes. He'd worry about it all tomorrow.

* * *

_Silence. Uncomfortable silence. He never liked the silence. It always meant something bad was about to happen. Noise, any noise, would have meant life at least. But the cold silence was like death. You could scream but nobody would hear you. You could cry out but no one would come. The only answer would be your own echo. Silence was loneliness. _

_A voice. Any voice. Any that wasn't his own. Even an enemy would be welcome. An enemy would mean he wasn't alone. An enemy would mean there were other people around. An enemy would be someone. Someone to break the cold, deathlike stillness. _

_But there was no one. The silence remained, cold and unwelcoming as ever. With each passing minute it only grew more and more. So quiet you could hear from a mile away. But there was nothing save the rhythmic beating of his heart and the slow breaths he took in. _

_His heart rate stayed the same but now he could hear it beating as if it were in his ears instead of his chest. A sudden rush of vertigo, was that, wind? No, only his breathing. Darkness; it was so dark. When did it come? Or was it always there? Time lost its meaning. The world stood still. And yet, there was only silence. _

_He was supposed to be doing something. What was it? Confusion. Where was he again? It was so dark. Sound. What happened to sound? He couldn't even hear his own breathing anymore. Too silent. Too quiet. Something was coming. He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He could feel. A sixth sense. Something was coming. _

_Stones. Sharp, pointy stones. Mountains. He knew this place. Gradually the place began lightening again. Where was sound? It was still absent. Light. Then darkness. Darkness rushed around him again. He couldn't see. He tried to speak. No words came. He opened his mouth but couldn't make it move. Was he, paralyzed? No, he could move. He could move his body. What was wrong? _

_What was he doing here? He knew the place. Why was he here? He couldn't remember. All at once there was light. There was sound. A burst of color. A blast of noise. It hurt his eyes and ears. He strained his vision to make out what was going on. It didn't work. Too much all at once. It was a blur. _

_Vision eventually focused. But somehow everything seemed to be moving as if he was looking into a pool of water. Sound eventually became more than just random noise. But it was as if he was hearing it through a wall, from far away…dreamlike. _

_Was he in a dream? He couldn't tell. He wanted it to be. He wanted to wake up, now. He wanted to leave. But he couldn't. If it was a dream, he couldn't make himself wake up. He couldn't. _

_Screaming. He heard screaming. So much screaming. He shivered though he wasn't cold. He shut his eyes but they opened again on their own accord. He didn't want to watch this. He had a feeling as to what was going to happen. He didn't want to watch it. _

_Fire. Smoke. People. Buildings. He knew this place. Why was he here? He didn't want to be. People ran by him. They didn't seem to notice him. Buildings came down around him. He didn't care. Screaming. So much screaming. Children's cries. They haunted him. He knew these people. Why was he here?_

_It must be a dream. A horrible awful dream. He tried to wake himself up. He couldn't. Suppose it wasn't a dream? What was he doing here? This happened so long ago. Why was he here? He tried to call out. He knew these people. He knew them all. None of them would live. Not if they kept running like this. Why couldn't he talk? He tried again. _

_He heard himself screaming at them. Telling them to turn around. Go the other way. This way was only death. They didn't hear him. He begged them, pleaded with them. Nobody gave him a second glance. Nobody seemed to notice him. He screamed himself hoarse but nobody heard. He was invisible. _

_They wouldn't live. They couldn't hear him. He couldn't tell them about the worse danger. He couldn't tell them; he wanted to so badly. A building came down only a few feet in front of him. It pinned down a young girl. The girl's mother screamed. She was trying to get her child out from under there. The girl was alive. _

_He wanted to help. He tried moving forward. He was stuck. Frozen in place. He couldn't move. He tried again. He struggled, pleaded, prayed. The girl's mother screamed again as more fire came out of the sky. It burned her hands but still she worked to remove her child. The girl was almost dead. He knew it. Still he tried to get to her. He wanted to help them. _

_Finally, he broke free. He ran towards the woman and her child. Reached out an arm to help them. Too late. Too late. Debris flew out of the sky. A stone flew from somewhere and hit the girl on the head. Dead. She was dead. Blood oozed from the gaping wound in her head. It mixed with the blood on the streets. When had they become so stained?_

_The mother screamed. Cried out in anguish for her lost child. He tried to help her up. He tried to get her away from there. She would only die too. But too late. Someone wearing a mask came up behind the woman and sliced her in the back with an axe. The mother gasped and rolled over next to her child. Dead. _

_The person proceeded to mangle the body. He wanted to shout at the person. Tell them to go away. Hurt them. Make them pay for what they were doing. But he couldn't move. He was frozen again. He struggled. He managed to get up. He pushed the person away. They didn't even notice him. He knocked them back. Now they noticed him. _

_The person hit him over the head with the back of the axe. He stumbled back and collapsed next to the dead woman and her daughter. They left. He didn't know why, but they left. He felt dizzy, weak. He was lying in a pool of blood. The woman's blood, her daughter's blood, his blood, the blood of others who were dead or dying. He closed his eyes. He felt so dizzy. _

_He wanted to scream. He wanted to tell the rest of them to get out while they still could, before it was too late. He opened his eyes. He couldn't get up. Pain. Dizziness. He couldn't move. He felt his vision blur. He felt tears leaking out the corners of his eyes. This was his fault. _

"_Sumimasen…sumimasen…forgive me…" Deidara whispered. His eyes slid shut._

* * *

Deidara woke with a start, a small scream escaping his throat. He could feel the sweat pouring off his body and he was panting for breath. He shivered as a light breeze blew through the camp.

_It was a dream…a new one..._

Eventually he managed to calm down a bit. Looking around the camp he breathed out a sigh of relief as he saw that neither Sasuke nor Sakura had woken up. Thank goodness for small miracles.

Deidara got up. He knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep just then. He didn't really want to anyways. He didn't like the dreams he'd been having lately. Sighing he looked out over the land. He thought silently about the mission he was supposed to start in only a few short hours. He frowned.

Would he really be able to do it? It wouldn't hurt the village directly…still, his conscience was nagging him. He didn't know why he should feel bad…but then again, he did. The dream he just had was still all too vivid. He didn't want to think about it but the images wouldn't leave his head. And the worst part, all of it had happened.

Deidara shut his eyes and tried to block out the memory. But it was one that had been in the back of his mind the whole week and he knew he wouldn't be rid of it so easily. Sighing and shaking his head, he opened his eyes again and sat down, gazing at the clear sky.

It was cold. Colder than it had been when they were close to Konoha. Somehow, this surprised Deidara even though he knew it would be colder in Iwa. Winter always came early up here and already he could feel the temperature dropping. He wondered if it would snow. Other than a few clouds here and there the sky was relatively clear. But he knew the weather could change very quickly.

Getting up again he made his way back towards his sleeping place and decided to try and get a few more hours rest. They were all going to have to be up soon enough anyways. Still, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get back to sleep. Grumbling, he got up again and decided to put away his things and get himself ready since he obviously wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon.

Looking up at the sky again he saw a few more clouds. No doubt, it would snow soon. Probably only lightly, but enough to be noticed. Deidara loved the snow. It was one of the things he truly loved about his village and he smiled sadly as a few, scant, happy memories of it flashed through his mind. The happiness, however, was tainted with tragedy. Pure, white snow was welcoming. But white was so easily stained with the dirt and foulness of the world.

_Just like anything, it doesn't last. Enjoy it while you've got it. _

A few white flakes began to fall. Deidara closed his eyes and tilted his head upward. It was cold, but somehow this cold was comforting. This cold was not the same as silence or death. To him, it was more like warmth. Happiness, if only for a moment, yes, it was happiness. Short lived maybe, but nothing good lasts forever. It could only be glimpsed in this life. He, of all people, knew this.

Deidara brought his head back down and gazed out across the landscape towards Iwa. He heard someone stirring behind him but didn't bother to turn. He was still thinking.

"Oh, you're up" he head Sakura's voice.

"Yeah" he called back. His own voice sounded hoarse and dry. Sakura came up behind him.

"Well, the weather certainly turned! Snow already? This early? Wow…we must be in for a cold winter!"

"It's always like this up here. Iwa is far colder than Konoha, un"

"Oh…we never get snow this early. We hardly get any at all. In fact, I think we generally don't get snow, only cold rain"

"Konoha's far more tropical, un"

"I suppose…still didn't expect to see any snow yet. Is it hard living with it so cold all the time?"

If Deidara hadn't been so preoccupied he would have laughed. "Heh, is it hard living where it's so hot all the time, un?"

"Touche. Still, it must be different, right?"

"I guess so. If you think this is cold you should come back in a month though, un"

"You're not cold?"

"I'm used to it, un" he reminded her.

"Oh, right"

Neither of them said anything for a while but instead watched the snow fall. It had begun to start coming down a bit more rapidly now. Still not a real storm, but more than before.

"So, why are you up?" Sakura asked

"Well, why are you up, un?"

"The snow woke me up"

"Hn"

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"I couldn't sleep, un"

"Oh?"

Deidara considered something for a moment. He could tell Sakura, but what good would it do? He didn't need her asking questions. He still had the mission to worry about.

"I just, couldn't sleep, un"

Sakura only nodded and went back to watching the snow. Now Deidara felt cold again. Sakura had made him remember the dream and why he had woken up in the first place. He shivered a bit and tried to surreptitiously pull his Akatsuki cloak closer around himself. Sakura noticed.

"I thought you said you weren't cold"

"No, I said I'm used to it, un" he muttered.

Sakura threw him a curious glance. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. Anyways, since we're up we should wake up Sasuke and get moving. The sooner we do the sooner we can finish the mission, un" _And the better for me._

"Deidara" Sakura said seriously.

"What, un?"

"Don't change the subject. You look pale. And tired. How long have you been up?"

"A while. I just didn't sleep well is all. I'm fine, seriously, un"

Sakura raised an eyebrow "You sure?"

"Yeah"

"Alright then"

"What's going on?" Sakura and Deidara turned to see Sasuke standing close by.

"Well, we were just about to wake you up. Saved us the trouble I guess, un" Deidara said lightly.

"Sasuke-kun it's snowing!" Sakura said excitedly.

"I can see that. Are we going to start now then?"

"If you guys are ready then, yeah, that would be good, un"

Sasuke nodded. "I'm ready. Just let me pack up"

"Oh, me too" Sakura added.

Deidara nodded and waited for the Konoha ninja to pack up their belongings.

"Ready, un?" He asked when they had finished.

"Hai" Sasuke answered.

"Come on then, un"

Deidara led the way over the rocky path towards Iwagakure. They were really very close and it only took them an hour or two to get within the village gates. About a mile before the gates they stopped.

"Alright, well, we can't really just waltz on in there. Well, I suppose you two could but even then that looks suspicious if you guys don't have an official mission, un"

"So you're saying we're going to have to find another way in?" Sasuke asked

"Actually, not exactly. There's only a couple more ways in and any of them would take us three days out of our way to get to. They don't exactly make it easy for people to come on in, un"

"So how do we get in then?" Sakura asked

"It shouldn't be too difficult for us. Look" Deidara began drawing with his finger in the snow "The gate is set up like this. It opens at eight in the morning which is in about half an hour or so. There are always ten guards on it but they have somewhat of a rotating watch if you will. That is, there are only ever five watching at a time, un.

"The way its set up is three in the front, like this, one on either side, like this, and the other five patrol the general area. They switch off every half hour. As long as we're able to mask our chakra and stick to the shadows, the ones patrolling shouldn't be able to find us. Don't underestimate them, they're pretty good, but we're better, un.

"Anyways, this means we really only have to worry about the five guarding the gate. That's a bit trickier. The only reasons they leave their posts are for intruders, a direct order from the Tsuchikage, or the change of guard. It's highly unlikely the Tsuchikage will want them for anything and the change of guard only happens every five hours. So we're going to have to be a bit more, creative, un.

"We can't really create a distraction because only two would ever go to check it out at a time. The rest would only be more alert of their positions and possible intruders. But on the right side, over here, there's an alternate way in. It's a passage used only by the ANBU and the Corps to get in and out of Iwa quickly and secretly. The patrol guards walk by it all the time but none of them know it's there. They're not allowed to know so they won't expect anyone to go in that direction, un.

"The ANBU and Corps can only use it early in the morning or late at night unless there's an emergency so as to reduce the risk of people finding out about it. So we shouldn't be running into any of them. Anyways, the patrol ninja walk by it approximately every five minutes. There's a place to hide there and once he passes there's time enough for one person to dash into the passage. The next has to wait five minutes and so on otherwise you risk getting caught. So, now that you guys know how we're getting in, any questions, un?"

Sasuke and Sakura both just looked at the picture Deidara made of the gate and the guards, studying it.

"It seems pretty risky…" Sakura started.

"It's really our only chance. But I suppose you don't have to come in if you don't want to, un"

"No, I'm fine. I just wish there was a better way."

"This works. Trust me, they won't see us as long as you can mask your chakra sufficiently, un"

"Where do we go once we get inside the village?" Sasuke wanted to know.

"I'll show you guys when we get there. We're not going to be walking through the middle of the village in broad daylight if that's what you're wondering. There are underground passages all throughout the village; we'll use those, un"

"What about ANBU?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"Eh, screw them. I told you, they're not allowed to use it during the day. That applies to the whole village unless there's an emergency, un"

"Alright…"

"Ready, un?"

They nodded.

"Good, follow me, un"

Quickly and quietly the three weaved their way in and out of the shadows, making their way towards the gate. Silently, they got to the place Deidara had mentioned earlier and hid themselves, masking their chakra. A patrol ninja passed them by and after he had gone a ways away Deidara spoke up.

"See that large stone over there?" He whispered, and pointed towards the gate. "Behind it there's a fake ground covering. The handle's near the rock. It looks like a sharp edge poking out of the stone but it's really the handle. Turn it _slowly_ to the right twice and the seal will break. You'll then have fifteen seconds to open the door and slip in before the seal resets. The guard won't see the door open if he should walk by for whatever reason; it's pretty well hidden by the rock. You guys got that, un?"

The Konoha ninja just nodded.

"Good. Who wants to try first? Or would you rather me go, un?"

"I'll do it" Sasuke volunteered.

"Alright, wait until the patrol passes again then go. Once you're down there, wait for the rest of us. If it takes more than ten minutes there's a path leading to the right that will take you back outside on the far end of the wall, un"

Sasuke nodded. As soon as the ninja passed them again the Uchiha dashed behind the stone and disappeared.

Deidara turned to Sakura. "You want me to go next, un?"

She shrugged. "If you want"

He gave a slight nod. The ninja passed by again and Deidara, like Sasuke had done five minutes earlier, dashed behind the stone. He looked for the handle which he knew was there and on finding it reached out to turn it.

A sudden state of agitation came over him and he felt his hand freeze right in front of the handle. He couldn't do this. He couldn't go back in. He felt himself shaking a bit and drops of sweat rolled off his forehead.

_What the hell is wrong with me? You don't have all day idiot! Grab the damn handle already!_

Shakily, he slowly began turning the handle, once, twice. It made a soft _click_ and the door came loose. Deidara hesitated.

_I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. _

Finally making up his mind he dropped down just as the door began to slide shut again. Steadying himself against a wall in the passage he closed his eyes and tried to breathe more evenly.

"Something happen out there?" He heard a voice. Instinct took over for a moment and he jumped back, preparing his clay.

"Oh…it's you…" he said, noticing Sasuke who was now looking at him curiously. "Gomennasai, I'm just…nothing happened, everything's fine, un" he finished quickly.

"If that's the case then you can probably put your clay away."

"Huh? Oh…" Deidara noticed he was still holding the substance and standing in a defensive stance. "Right…" he said, putting it away and walking back towards Sasuke.

Just then Sakura came down, causing Deidara to again jump back defensively.

"What?" The kunoichi asked, slightly confused.

"Uh, nothing…it's nothing. Gomen" _Kami, why am I so jumpy? _"This way, un" he said, leading them down a path on their left.

He told himself he was fine. He told himself he could do this. But yet the agitation only grew. He knew this place too well and he was constantly feeling like someone he knew was going to pop out of somewhere or something.

They walked on in silence making no noise whatsoever except for their breathing. Deidara didn't like it. He wanted to say something but didn't know what. He felt rather jittery and the slightest noise or flash of shadow put him on his guard. He kept feeling his breathing increase though he tried to maintain a calm rate. He knew where this passage led. He knew exactly. And he was dreading actually getting there though he wanted to leave the passage.

As they neared the exit he felt his pace slow down and a few unwanted memories flashed through his head. Eventually, he stopped altogether only a few feet in front of the exit, and shuddered.

"Um, is this where we're going?" Sakura asked. Deidara felt like he only half heard her. He knew what she asked yet somehow, it felt surreal.

"Y-yeah" his voice came out rather shaky. _Damnit! What is wrong with me? Snap out of it Deidara!_

"Are you alright?" For once this was Sasuke.

"Perfectly. Fine." He said abruptly. "This way, un"

He quickly made his way over towards the exit and opened it. The door made a loud _clang_ as it swung open and Deidara winced at the echo it created.

"Come on, un" He said, leading the way out and shutting the door behind them once they were all out. They walked down a path a ways and came to a small clearing with a little house in the middle. Deidara stopped again once he saw it. Why did he think this was a good idea?

So many memories flooded through him now. He couldn't think. He closed his eyes, trying to get a grip but in vain. He felt lightheaded and dizzy. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to leave, _now. _He noticed Sakura and Sasuke had also stopped behind him, talking in low voices.

_Get a damn grip idiot!_

"Um, come on…" He said out loud to the other two. He started forward again but he felt so, so out of it. Suddenly he was on the ground, pain shooting through his injured shoulder and now in his side too. He barely felt it though. He knew it was there, he could feel it, but he felt…numb.

_I'm losing it…_

Everything moved as if in a dream. He was aware of what was going on but, at the same time, he couldn't think.

_Come on Deidara, you can do this! Snap out of it!_

He thought he heard Sakura saying something to him but he couldn't make out the words. He felt himself sitting up. Someone was tapping him on the shoulder, talking to him. What was going on?

Slowly he felt himself being brought back to reality. All at once he could feel the shooting pain in his shoulder and he winced, grabbing at it as it ached and burned.

"Hey, can you hear me? You alright? Deidara?" Sakura was asking him anxiously as Sasuke stood beside her looking the blonde over.

He turned to face her. He felt dizzy again, faint. "I-I…um…I…I don't know…" he said, turning his gaze towards the ground. Sakura put a hand to his forehead then grabbed his wrist to check his pulse.

"Can you get up?" He only nodded and tried to stand but his body swayed a bit. Sasuke steadied the blonde and slung Deidara's arm over his shoulder.

"We're going there?" Sasuke asked and pointed towards the house.

"Yeah"

"Alright" He helped Deidara down the path towards the house and Sakura followed.

"You…need the key…un…" He half mumbled and used his other arm to fumble around inside his Akatuski cloak, finally producing a small key which he handed to Sasuke. Sasuke took it and unlocked the door, leading the blonde inside. Sakura came in after and shut the door behind them.

Sasuke looked around the room a bit before finding a few chairs around the only table in the place. He moved to set the blonde in one and then sat down himself. Sakura came and sat down too and nobody said anything for a while.

Deidara only gazed ahead, staring off into space, lost in thought. Eventually, he leaned forward against the table resting his head in his arms. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the memories but it didn't work. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Sakura and Sasuke both watching him.

He silently wished they would go away. He didn't like people to see him like this, vulnerable, weak. He started to feel dizzy again and placed his head back on his arms.

"Gomennasai…" he whispered "I…it's just…"

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked softly. "You look sick but it's more than that, isn't it?"

He nodded. He wanted to tell them. He really did. He was tired of keeping the whole mess to himself all the time. He felt broken, exhausted. Somehow he had managed to keep a calm, happy disposition for a long while. It was his nature. Something bad would happen, he would bounce back. He was so used to it now. And yet, this mission had flipped some sort of internal switch, releasing everything he wanted to forget but just couldn't.

He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again. He wanted this pain to go away. He made his decision.

"I hate this place…" he said softly "I…hate it…un…"

They waited for him to go on.

"I hate the memories here. This whole damn village is filled with them. And I hate them…" he said bitterly. "I don't…I don't want to see these places again…these people…not yet. They…I…they all hate me…it's my fault but they don't care…I don't want to be here…un…" He shivered. His shoulder hurt, his chest hurt. He wanted it to stop. Kami, he was a wreck.

Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a glance. Sasuke moved closer to him, was that, sympathy Deidara saw? "What happened?" The Uchiha asked.

Deidara lifted his head again and began playing with his fingers. Taking a shaky in breath he asked, "Have you ever seen red snow? I have. More than once, un" and he began.

* * *

**A/N: Soo, you guess what the next chapter's going to be about next? Mhm, Dei's past! I'm so excited...I started writing it already! ^^ I wanted to fit some of it into this chapter but it was getting kind of long and plus, my brother keeps bugging me to use the computer and whatnot. So, next chapter. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviews! It means so much to me! :3  
**

**Japanese reference; I think you guys get it...but let me know if you want one and I'll add it back!  
**


	11. Red Snow

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sooooooo very sorry for taking so long with this chapter! Things have been really hectic with school lately...applying to colleges have been a living nightmare and I've been having some arguments with my parents. Anyways, I hope this extra long chapter can somewhat make up for it! It's my longest yet...(over 13,000 words o_O) I just kept adding and adding stuff to it...I wanted to do all of Dei's past in one chapter!**

**Well, anyways, here's pretty much the whole story. There may be a few other things here and there that pop up later but for the most part, here it is! Pretty much everything is made up. I tried to stay as canon as possible but since not much is actually known about Deidara's past I had to make up a lot. I suppose the biggest thing is, are the hands a part of his kekkei genkai or a result of the scroll? You'll see how I did it here. I know he stole some sort of forbidden jutsu...you'll see more on that later in the fic. I just hope I didn't mess things up too badly!**

**In this chapter, most all of it is just Deidara's past. The areas with line breaks that are all in italics are parts where he's talking to Sasuke and Sakura in present time. Then the last part at the end is also present time. **

**Oh, and really, don't look for a meaning in the surname I gave Deidara. I just needed one for this part of the fic so I used a random name generator...as I do for most characters in my stuff :P**

**Oh and one more thing; I'm upping the rating on this to M for this chapter...it's got a lot of gore and language...I guess...at least someone I showed it to told me it did. And, I don't want to get into any trouble so, M it is. But I mean, it's gore and language...that's it...o-o**

**Well, that's about it! Again, really sorry for the lateness of this chapter!**

**I don't own the Naruto characters in this fic.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Red Snow**

* * *

Warm light shone down over the landscape, making little dangling icicles twinkle like the diamonds of the night sky. A sheet, of fresh, bright, whiteness spread out across the land and the rolling hills gave the impression of a foam flecked sea. Every now and then a light wind would blow through the trees, causing the icicles to dance with the wind and even fall to the ground perfectly upright in the snow as a few powdery flakes floated off the branches.

It was beautiful.

And then, the sun was gone, hidden behind the storm clouds that rolled in, taking with it all the glowing shine and wonder out of the land.

Beauty was evanescent.

A small frown appeared on delicate features. This was her path. This was what she had chosen. She had done it all to herself, no one to blame. Yet, sometimes she wished fate wasn't so cruel. It didn't have to be so hard. She could change it all, right then if she wanted to. She could turn her life around. All she needed was to say one word.

'Yes.'

It was a tempting proposition.

"Kasan, where did the sun go? It doesn't look so pretty anymore, un."

But not tempting enough. No, she had something they could never have. Turning her head slightly, she almost laughed at the face of her pouting son.

Smiling lightly, she answered, "The sun needs to go to sleep now Dei-kun. It works hard to give us light so right now it's just taking a break."

Deidara blinked his eyes owlishly.

"But how come it doesn't sleep like this in the summer? It makes more light then. Why can't it make more now, un?"

She laughed and a certain music filled the air.

"Well, you see, the sun gets more tired in the winter because it lives farther away from us then. So it takes longer to get here. And besides, I think right now there might be some snow coming so the sun probably decided to go home."

The little boy nodded sagely.

"Oh…"

She laughed lightly again and tilted her head towards the winter sky. It was for moments like these that she lived for; little things. Not for all the riches or honor in the world would she trade this, her life, her child. She didn't regret this, not one bit.

From time to time, she wished it could be easier, but if that were to happen would she still be the same person? Would she still uphold the same values? Would she still have the same gifts? Would she still be _happy_?

Her heart told her no. Nothing could replace this happiness.

People called her crazy. They said she must be out of her right mind to keep a child like that, especially in her position.

Some said it was "that man" who influenced her. Others said she was holding on to the past. Still more claimed to have heard rumors that this had been a direct order from the top and now she couldn't let go.

She shook her head. They just didn't understand. She _chose_ this path of her own free will. No one forced her, influenced her, paid her, or anything of the like. She chose it. And given the chance she would choose it again.

"Kasan…"

She felt a tug on her shirt and turned her head downwards to see a pair of bright blue orbs staring up at her.

"Yes Dei-kun?"

"I'm cold, un."

"Alright, it's time to go anyways. Come on."

She got to her feet and helped the boy up as well. Slowly, they made their way home. Soon after, she put her son to bed and then sat down, watching his small body unconsciously snuggle deeper into the soft blankets so that only the top of his little head poked out. Smiling, she looked down lovingly at him, but that smile was soon replaced by a frown.

How _dare_ the Tsuchikage even suggest such a thing to her! Call her a fool, but there was no way in hell that she would sell her child, her own flesh and blood, out like that. All the things he promised to give her were nothing compared to the joy she received from her son. Deidara wouldn't be happy either, despite the Tsuchikage's attempts to sway her otherwise. For goodness' sake, he was a six year old child! Not a weapon. But of course that's all the Tsuchikage saw, usefulness.

She had been warned against this. Yes, she had been warned. And, originally, she had never planned this. She never wanted this pain, this stigma that was her bloodline, on a child. Her family had only ever been used like weapons for their powerful abilities. She knew this; she knew her own clan's history.

The fact that the room was probably holding some of the last of this bloodline only made matters that much worse. Iwa would kill for her abilities, for her son's abilities. Oh, but they were afraid of her. Yes, they were afraid which was why none of her family was left…and, it was why the Tsuchikage had hoped for her to accept his proposal.

She herself never had to experience much of the machine like use of her abilities. True, she had been used for her kekkei genkai before, but never exclusively for that. No one had known, before recently, of her secret for she had kept it well hidden from everyone save a select few. She had been respected, well liked, an excellent kunoichi. And then that changed.

She did something she had wanted to avoid with every fiber of her being; she fell in love. This lead to marriage and eventually her child but, though she was happy outwardly, on the inside she was tearing up. She never had told her husband her secret and now she was worried for her child's sake. She kept hoping against hope that the bloodline would never manifest. But it did.

She remembered the day everyone found her secret. The Tsuchikage called her in private and told her to bring her baby. There he had told her that the boy was property of Iwa since the clan was originally meant to protect the village and also because the clan was virtually extinct. Of course she had flat out refused to hand over her baby. It was then the Tsuchikage made his mind very clear, either she hand over the child, or life would be hell.

She remembered storming out in a rage after having blown up the Tsuchikage's office. She would have _liked_ to blow up the man himself but she did have to keep somewhat of a lid on her temper. When she got home she found her husband, dead in a pool of blood.

From then everyone knew. Everyone knew about her and though they couldn't hate her completely they called her an idiot. For not giving up her child she was an idiot. She was the crazy one for not killing her son.

Now the Tsuchikage was trying to "fix" things between them, but really she knew he was still only after his prize. She growled. She would tell him, yes, she would go right up to his face and tell him.

* * *

"You're making a mistake, Mayumi. Reconsider before it's too late."

"I most certainly will not. Now leave this place at once!"

"I'm afraid I'll have to give a report to the Tsuchikage. If he hears this as your answer he will not be pleased."

"Tell him to go screw himself. Better yet, I'll tell him. Now leave before I make you!"

Deidara blinked his eyes open and then sat up, rubbing them with his fists. Who was his momma talking to?

Quietly, he slipped out of bed and made his way across the floor, peeking his head through the doorway.

"Ah, so this is the child then…"

A man dressed like an ANBU said. He seemed to be looking at Deidara. The little blonde shrank back and began to retreat behind the door. He didn't like the look of that man and his momma had been yelling a minute ago.

"Deidara, come here." His mother said in a commanding tone.

"Y-yes kasan, un." He scurried behind the taller blonde and held onto her tightly.

"Yes," She said to the man as she pulled Deidara out from behind her, placing both her hands on his shoulders. "This is Deidara."

Her voice sounded as cold as ice. Deidara squirmed a bit. He felt uncomfortable and shifted his gaze down towards the dirt floor.

"Say, 'hello' to the _nice_ ANBU Deidara."

Deidara lifted his gaze ever so slightly.

"Hi, un." He said quickly, in barely a whisper, and returned his gaze to the ground.

The ANBU ignored him.

"Mayumi, rest assured that the Tsuchikage _will_ keep his word. No harm will come to the child and he won't go on any missions until he is at least twelve years of age. It would be…better care than you yourself can provide." The man said, adding the last part rather hesitantly.

Deidara felt his mother's grip on his shoulder tighten.

"You think the Tsuchikage would provide better care for _my_ child than _I _can?" She asked angrily. "Need I remind you, _I am_ the boy's mother."

The ANBU seemed to ignore the venom in the words as he bent down to Deidara's level.

"Deidara, was it? How would you like to come with me to see the Tsuchikage?"

"What 'bout kasan?" The little blonde whispered back.

"I'll make sure she gets taken care of. You come with me and your momma will get everything she needs to be very happy, and you will too. Don't you want your momma to be happy?"

Deidara wasn't sure what to answer. He was liking this man less and less by the second.

"How _dare_ you speak to my son like that! You have no right, _no _right! I'm only going to ask once more, leave. Now."

The ANBU stood up.

"Mayumi, this is your last warning. There will be no more chances."

Deidara felt one of his mother's arms leave his shoulder as she pulled out a weapon of sorts. Deidara quickly ran back behind his mother.

"I said, _out. Now_."

"Well, I hope you're satisfied then Mayumi. Goodbye."

With that the ANBU was gone. Mayumi muttered something to herself as she put her weapon away. Deidara watched her, wide-eyed, as she went over and locked the door. She turned to him.

"Go get dressed Dei-kun, we've got to go see someone."

Nodding, Deidara quickly did as he was told and before he knew it, he somehow found himself in the Tsuchikage's office for the first time he could remember.

"Well, isn't this a surprise, Mayumi. I see you've brought the child with you. Have you changed your mind since this morning then? I told the ANBU to tell you all decisions were final but I might reconsider, depending on what you want."

"His name is Deidara." Mayumi practically spat out. "And no, I have not changed my mind. I'm simply here to make sure there were no miscommunications."

"Hmph."

The Tsuchikage eyed Deidara who suddenly felt very, very small.

"Deidara is it? Come here."

Deidara gave his mother a questioning look who only nodded her head. Slowly, he made his way over to the scary man.

"Y-yes s-sir, un?"

The Tsuchikage gave the boy a fake smile.

"Now, Deidara, you seem like a smart boy. You know we live in a hidden village, right? You know who live in them, don't you?"

"Y-yes sir…ninja live in them, un."

"Right, good. Do you know what a ninja's duty to their village is, Deidara?"

Deidara glanced at his mother who looked very angry. He knew the answer to this question. He had only just started learning about ninja, what they did and everything, but he knew.

He nodded.

"Yes s-sir. A ninja's duty to their village is to work to protect the village and guard their secrets, un."

"Very good. And Deidara, what if a ninja has a…special gift. Shouldn't they use that gift to help the village in whatever way the village sees fit?"

"I-I guess s-so sir, un."

The Tsuchikage looked up and smirked.

"Well, Mayumi Yasutake, it seems your son is a smart kid. Don't you agree with him?"

"Of course he is." Mayumi snapped. "And in general I do. But I place my family before my village."

"Hm"

The Tsuchikage turned back to Deidara.

"Show me your hands, Deidara."

Deidara suddenly turned his head, wide-eyed, towards his momma. She looked angry, oh she looked angry, but she slowly nodded and Deidara turned back towards the man who was holding out his hands, waiting for the blonde. Slowly, he placed his own tiny hands, palms facing upward, in the hands of the Tsuchikage. Iwa's head poked around on the blonde's hands and eventually, two little mouths appeared.

"So it is true then…" He muttered to himself.

"Your boy has inherited the more rare version of your bloodline I see. He has a strong kekkei genkai; probably one of the strongest I've seen. Like his mother."

Deidara didn't like the way this man was talking. He wasn't sure what it was but he didn't like it.

The man dropped his hands and Deidara immediately ran back behind his mother; not even caring anymore if the Tsuchikage had something else to ask him.

"Indeed." She responded in a strained voice. "Well, now you know. And you know my decision which will never, I repeat _never_, be changed. Good day."

She spun on her heel and stalked out the door with Deidara trailing behind.

"You will regret this Mayumi, know that."

* * *

Deidara sat on his little stool in this house he didn't know they had. If they had it, why hadn't his momma come here earlier? Where was his momma? She had left hours ago and had yet to return. She said she would be back though, so he would wait.

And wait he did. For two days he waited. But she never came. On the second day, Deidara decided he'd had enough of waiting. He wanted to find his momma. She might be mad once she found out he left but it would be worth it. He just wanted to see her again.

So, he slipped out of the little house and started back towards the place he knew as home. It was lightly snowing outside, something that generally amused Deidara but now he was on a mission. He had to find his momma. As fast as his little legs could carry him he ran until he got closer to his house where he slowed to a walk.

Eventually, he came to the house but his eyes widened at what he saw. The house was going up in flames.

"Okkasan!" He shouted and ran towards the house, coughing as his lungs inhaled smoke.

Suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms to his back.

"Let me go! Let me go!" He tried to kick at his captor. It was useless.

"Calm down kid, it'll all be over soon." The man holding him sneered.

He heard sharp cries go up and two more men came into view dragging his momma by her hair.

"Kasan! Stop it! LET ME GO!"

Deidara swung his legs around and managed to kick the man in the gut, hard.

"Shit!"

The man cursed and dropped the blonde. Deidara got up and ran towards the other men.

"Kasan! Kasan!"

She turned to face him.

"Deidara! Run! Go now!"

One of the men raised a heavy axe-like weapon while Deidara watched, wide-eyed.

"KASAN!" He screamed as the man brought the weapon down, again, again, and again.

Deidara screamed. He screamed himself hoarse and felt tears leaking out of his and flowing down his cheeks. He watched as the weapon first cut his mother's head open, blood spilling out, down her face, on her clothes, on the men, on him. He watched as they hit her again and again, even though by now she was probably dead.

Her body opened up in many places and her organs spilled out. Finally, the men dropped her. Deidara, still whimpering, made his way to his mother and poked her bloody cheek.

"Kasan? Kasan…w-wake u-u-up…w-wake up…wake up!"

He knew it was no use. Somewhere, he knew she was gone. But he refused to believe it. He screamed and screamed and watched as the rest of her blood flowed out and stained the new, pure, white snow red with death.

* * *

"_That was the first time…un…"_

"_That's…that's awful!"_

"_Hn" _

_He nodded._

"_I…I'm sorry…"_

"_You didn't do anything, un."_

"_What happened after that?"_

* * *

Almost six years had passed since that day…six years. Deidara wasn't even sure how he had survived it. It all seemed to be a blur. He didn't understand it and yet, it didn't matter anymore. There was nothing he could do to change any of it.

He sighed as a breeze came in through the open window. He thought about closing it. For sure, if his uncle came in and saw the window open he would only yell at the boy. After all, it was the middle of winter. But if he closed it then he wouldn't be able to see outside. And he wanted to see outside.

"DEIDARA! Come here _now!_"

_Time to go anyways…_

He quickly shut the window and ran out of his "room." He found his uncle in the kitchen. Deidara took in the situation immediately. His uncle was angry. About what he wasn't sure but it hardly mattered anymore. He knew how to play this.

"Yes sir, un?" Deidara asked timidly.

"Tch, come when I call you the _first_ time, brat!" The man slapped the blonde across the face.

_So it's this game today, huh?_

"Sorry, un…" He mumbled and quickly looked away.

"I don't need your pathetic excuses! Look at me when I'm talking to you, ignorant urchin! Now, guess what? I went outside to the shed for supplies and what did I find?"

Here, his uncle paused. But Deidara knew it was for effect only and that he was to remain silent.

"Piles of _junk_ everywhere! Now, didn't I ask you to clean it up?"

_Slap!_

"_Well?_"

"S-sorry…I, I started but then I had a mission s-so I had to go, un."

_Slap!_

"Don't talk to me like that you insolent brat! You can't do a damned thing right! And after all I've done for you too!"

He punched the blonde in the gut, hard, sending the boy flying into a wall. Deidara winced as his body made connection with the hard stone but he didn't cry out. It would only make things worse.

"All you do is sit on your ass and expect me to do everything! You little ingrate!"

He picked Deidara up by his neck and threw him to the ground. Deidara closed his eyes and bit his tongue as his head suddenly burst in pain.

"Get out! Just get out, you damned idiot!"

Quickly, Deidara scrambled to his feet and left. He had to go on a mission with his team anyways.

_Hm, he was at least tolerable today._

Deidara tried to brush himself off a bit as he hurried to meet his team. He was late, again, and they weren't going to be happy.

Sure enough, they were waiting for him when he got there.

"Late again, Deidara. Well, let's hear it, what's your excuse this time?"

His sensei spoke in an even tone as his teammates whispered something between themselves.

"I lost track of time…un." He answered quickly, hanging his head.

Even though he didn't see it, he knew the man was rolling his eyes.

"Can you _try _to remember for once in your life to be on time? Ugh, never mind, we're late already, let's go."

Deidara sighed. This was life. Unfair, maybe, but it was alright for now. He knew arguing would get him nowhere and he couldn't tell them about his uncle. Or, he could, but nobody would believe him. His uncle was a highly respected jounin; they would take his words over a bratty kid.

He shook his head.

He would show them all someday. Someday he would prove to them that he wasn't a useless freak. But, in order to do that he had to endure whatever his uncle and superiors threw at him. Really, it would be worth it.

After quickly finishing their mission and parting ways, Deidara began to walk home, taking the longer route. He was in no particular rush to get anywhere as he knew what awaited him at home. Instead, he took all the time he wanted. Eventually, he stopped and sat beside a large rock, watching the snow come down.

Slowly, almost as if unsure of what he was doing, he snaked his hand down into his weapons pouch and pulled out a small bit of clay. He had found the substance on one of his trips to that house his mother had showed him…all those years ago. He didn't know what possessed him to take the clay, or even to go to there in the first place, but he had.

Then, while playing with the squishy substance later, he hand found that by using the mouths on his hands, he could add chakra to the clay and make it move. Quite by accident, he realized he could detonate the creations, causing an explosion. He had always known about his kekkei genkai, but had never before realized he could use it in this way. He liked it. It was something that was completely his, something that nobody could take away since it was only here for a few short moments. It was his _art_.

Which was why he did his best to make sure nobody found out about it. He was pretty sure if his uncle knew about it then all the clay would be taken away. He already didn't have much and had yet to learn how to make some so he was going to have to be conservative with the little he had. But now, nobody was here, and he could use it to his heart's content.

Smirking a bit at the feel of the clay, he took a bit off and carefully molded it into a tiny bird. He watched as the bird alighted and danced around in the sky with the snowflakes that were falling to the ground. Suddenly, he got up and looked around. Someone was there, he knew it.

He quickly grabbed the bird out of the air and closed his fist tightly around it as he saw one of his teammates come into view.

_Come to mess with me no doubt._

"Heeey, whatcha' got there Yasutake?"

"Go away Souta, un."

"Heheh, you didn't answer my question. What's in your hand?"

Deidara gripped the bird tighter, he wasn't about to show it to this bastard.

"Mind your own business Souta, un."

"'Mind your own business Souta.'" The other mocked. "Come on Yasutake, show me."

Souta stepped closer to the shorter boy.

"Just go away, un!"

"Nah, I don't think so. You still haven't done what I asked yet."

"Yeah? Well, you're not in charge of me! You can't tell me what to do, un!"

"Ugh, you know, you really need to cut that tic out. It only makes you a bajillion times more irritating. And anyways, little imp, I think I can."

Dark eyes flashing, Souta suddenly grabbed Deidara's hand in an effort to find out what he was holding there. This, of course, only made the blonde angry as he swung his other fist around and punched the other in the face.

Souta hissed and spat out blood.

"I said go away, un."

"You little-"

Souta launched himself at the blonde and the two were soon engaged in a bloody brawl. Deidara had stuffed the bird in his pouch and was now full out fighting the bigger boy. Eventually, Souta kicked Deidara in the stomach, causing the blonde to fall back gasping in pain as his injury from earlier in the day was still bothering him.

"Aww, the little baby can't fight anymore?" Souta mocked the blonde. "Pity."

Deidara glanced up at the black haired boy. Sure, he was the one on the ground but he didn't think Souta was completely unscathed either. Deidara had given him a black eye and he had plenty of cuts and scrapes from their brawl. Souta kicked Deidara in the stomach again.

"Gonna show me now?"

Deidara only shook his head and winced as a spasm of pain ripped through his stomach.

"Aw, what's the matter? Can't get up?" Souta taunted and kept kicking the blonde.

Against his will, tears began spilling out of the corners of his eyes from the pain.

"Tch, you're such a baby! You're never gonna be anything but a freak, you know that? You don't belong here anyways. You're completely different from us!"

As Souta kicked him, the clay bird fell out of the pouch he had put it in earlier.

"Well, what's this?"

The kicks stopped as the dark haired boy bent down to pick the object up. Deidara wanted to stop him but his stomach hurt so much. Instead he brought his knees to his chin, crying silently.

"Heh, this thing is stupid! What were you trying to do with it anyways?"

Deidara uncurled himself. He had not liked that statement at all.

"It's not stupid, it's art, un!"

"This crap ain't art, idiot. It's stupid! HAHAHAHA! It looks hideous! Aw, you gonna cry now? HAHAHAHA!"

"It is to art, un!" Deidara screamed, standing up.

"Don't fool yourself Yasutake, it's not art, it's crap!" Souta laughed and threw the tiny sculpture to the ground.

"Oh yeah? I'll show you; KATSU!" The blonde shouted just as the bird reached the ground.

Souta looked like he was going to laugh again but was cut off when the bird exploded sending both him and Deidara flying backwards. Deidara grimaced as he sat up, holding his stomach and bleeding from several wounds as well as some burns on his hands and face now. He saw Souta get up as well, also burned and bleeding. He looked in horror as he realized that part of the other boy's face had been taken off when the bomb had been detonated.

Now Souta screamed bloody murder as he ran from the place, shouting curses that were meant for the blonde. Deidara sat dumbfounded for a moment. True, he didn't like Souta at all, but he never meant to actually hurt him that badly. He glanced down at the snow, now stained red from their fight and shuddered as he remembered that night.

Looking up at the sky he realized it was getting late, he need to get going or his uncle would be sure to have a fit. That is, a worse one than he was already having.

Word eventually got around about what happened with Souta and led to Deidara being shunned even more. Of course, he didn't have a say in the matter at all, no, he was the freak. How could he ever do such a thing to such a nice boy like Souta? Souta claimed that he had only wanted to see what Deidara had because he wanted to make friends with the blonde but Deidara had attacked him out of nowhere.

_Friends indeed…if they were there, they would have seen it! But…they wouldn't have cared. They still would have taken Souta's side on the matter. _

Whatever had happened, happened however, and because of it, Deidara was taken off Souta's team. He, of course, was quite happy to hear this but it was only momentary as he now was put on another team with people who were only worse than the last.

A couple years passed. Deidara passed between teams. Everyone admitted that his skills as a ninja were quite phenomenal, still, nobody wanted him. He was the freak, the odd one out, and apparently, teams with him were given bad reputations.

Deidara wondered why people were afraid of him so much…why they hated him so much. He didn't understand it, was it because of his hands? That was stupid, what was wrong with them? Sure his kekkei genkai made them different but he could make them look normal when he wanted to. Was it his hair? He didn't know anyone else in the entire village that had the same color hair as he did. Well, his mother, but she was dead.

Eventually, due to his skill level, the Tsuchikage put him with the Corps. It wasn't ideal, especially for the amount of work he had to do, but at least the ANBU and other Corps could _pretend_ to be civil. Deidara supposed it was in the job description.

Though, despite this, he was often left to complete tasks on his own. Not that he minded much. He worked better by himself anyways. Still, every once in a while, he would see some of the other members gathering together to work on an issue and he would wonder just what that could feel like.

He was working on one such mission one day when he felt someone come up behind him, watching him. He didn't think it was the captain; in fact, he was almost one hundred percent sure it wasn't the captain. But then, who was it? Probably one of the members came to mess with him. Again. Oh sure, they could pretend to be nice but they had their ways. It may never have been outright but a verbal jab here, a punch there; it wasn't anything that was new to him. Still, he tried to contain himself. There was no way he was going back from this job. ANBU and Corps may have been pretty nasty but others were worse. And, if he got himself kicked out they would only treat him harsher than before.

However, the ninja behind him made no move to do anything and oddly enough Deidara couldn't sense any malicious intent like he normally could from the others. Maybe this guy was just good at hiding it. Deidara continued to work in silence for a while, but the person was beginning to aggravate him.

"What, un?" He asked without turning his head.

"Do you need any help? I'm finished with mine."

Deidara almost dropped the bomb he was working on as his mouth gaped open in shock. Here was a new game he'd never played before. The ninja was probably trying to see just how gullible he was. He wouldn't be played like this.

Recovering from the initial shock, he answered, "I'm fine, un."

"It'll be faster if two work on it though."

The other ninja came closer and stopped beside Deidara. Deidara tried to ignore him. After all, he didn't really want to help. Nobody ever did. Finally, he turned to look at the ninja.

Now he understood. This ninja must be new; Deidara had never seen his face in the Corps before. He probably didn't know much about the blonde or had been convinced by the others to aggravate him.

"You new, un?" He asked the other member even though he was pretty sure of the answer.

"Yeah, this is my first mission."

Deidara eyed the shinobi suspiciously. So he probably didn't know. But he would find out soon enough.

"Have you…talked to the others, un?" Deidara asked warily.

"Ehm, not much." Came the answer.

"So why me, un?"

"Because you're the only one not working with a partner or team."

Deidara tilted his head in confusion. He didn't understand this shinobi. Couldn't he see that the blonde was a freak? Or was this all an elaborate plan to mess with him? Really, why him? Most other new recruits avoided him like the plague. Even if they didn't know much about him there were rumors. And the fact that he just _looked_ different from most Iwa shinobi was enough to scare them away. Maybe this guy was just an idiot.

The shinobi crouched next to Deidara.

"I'm Takumi, Takumi Yamauchi." He offered.

Deidara raised an eyebrow.

"Deidara Yas-"

He stopped short. Maybe he _shouldn't _give his clan name. This recruit would figure it out eventually but for now…

"Just Deidara, un."

Takumi smiled lightly.

"Alright then, Deidara, need some help?"

_He won't leave me alone until I accept…_

"Fine. Whatever, un."

Takumi smiled again and set to work next to the blonde. They didn't say much but the whole time Deidara kept casting sideward glances at the other ninja. He didn't expect this to last for long. But nothing happened.

"There, done." Takumi said, finishing up. Deidara just blinked. Maybe now it would come.

"Well, I'll be seeing you I guess. Bye!" Takumi turned and started leaving.

"Yeah…I guess…un…" Deidara muttered to himself after the other was out of earshot.

Weeks passed and Takumi still continued to work with Deidara. The blonde really didn't know why. Surely, by this time he had to have heard _something_ from the other Corps or ANBU. But the ninja was just as friendly as ever.

Deidara told himself the shinobi was just building up for something….something bad. But he found himself gradually warming up to the other member. It really was the first time in eight years that anyone had bothered to give him the time of day and though he was cautious he was more desperate for company than he knew. Because of this, he dreaded to think of what would happen when Takumi did find out everything…he didn't want to lose the only friend he ever had. Though, of course, Deidara couldn't keep that hidden forever.

Deidara was sitting at the kitchen table early in the morning lazily sipping a cup of tea. He didn't know where his uncle was; he hadn't seen the man since yesterday afternoon though he couldn't say he was disappointed. Though Deidara was now able to match, if not overpower entirely the jounin's skill level, for whatever reason he just froze up and couldn't move to attack the man. He didn't know why. Fear maybe. He knew he could defeat the other, but after all the years of being under his uncle's thumb he just wasn't sure he could do it.

He was thinking over the mission he had that day. The Tsuchikage had decided to put him in charge of five other Corps members, including Takumi. Why he didn't know. Maybe the Tsuchikage liked to torture him; the others wouldn't listen. They all hated him. Except for Takumi. He sighed. It was too early for this. He wished he could just go hide under his blankets in his room. That would be ideal. But then the Tsuchikage would get angry. And he didn't want to have to deal with that.

Deidara heard the door slam open and instantly stiffened. Why hadn't he left earlier?

"Hey! Freak, where are you?!"

Deidara visibly winced. His uncle sounded drunk. He probably was.

"I-I'm here…in the kitchen, un."

A moment later the man appeared.

"What the fuck are you doing loafing around?"

Deidara stood up quickly, hoping to avoid the inevitable.

"I, um, I have to go. Mission. Yeah. I'll be back later, un."

He started towards the door.

"Hold up idiot. Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Deidara stopped walking but still slightly inched towards the door.

"I-I already told you, uncle. I have a mission…I have to go, un."

Suddenly, the man was in front of him. Deidara could smell the alcohol on his breath. He sure moved fast for a drunk.

"You're not fucking going fucking anywhere you lazy ass!" He practically shouted in Deidara's face. He grabbed the blonde by his long hair and threw him to the ground.

Deidara winced a bit as he got up. As soon as he did so, his uncle was on top of him again, this time punching him in the gut, hard and he went flying into one of the walls. He could protect himself. He could…but at the same time he couldn't. Something was holding him back. It was as if he was powerless against this man.

His uncle held him up to the wall and began punching him over and over again. Deidara shut his eyes and tried to block out the pain. Suddenly, he was punched harder than before. He yelped and coughed up blood.

"Aw, did that hurt?"

His uncle took out a large kunai.

"Let's see how you handle this!"

He jabbed the kunai into the left side of Deidara's stomach and dragged it up until Deidara actually pushed him away. Holding back tears of pain, Deidara clutched at the four inch long injury to his side, blood seeping through his clothes and fingers. He struggled to hold himself steady against the wall while he tried to comprehend what he had just done. His uncle was not pleased.

"You worthless piece of shit! You'll be sorry, yes, you'll be sorry!" He screamed and began laughing like a madman.

Deidara tried to leave again only to be kicked down, landing face first on the floor. His uncle placed a foot on his back to keep him from moving and Deidara swore that with any more pressure he would be crushed.

"Where do you think you're going?" The jounin asked still laughing.

Deidara felt himself being kicked in the ribs and heard a sickening _crack_ as he felt the bones breaking. He gasped in pain.

His uncle continued to beat and slash at him until finally he stumbled out of the room in a drunk stupor and collapsed. Deidara lay for a moment as his blood pooled around him, waiting to see if his uncle would get up again. After a few minutes, he realized the drunken man was out, at least for a while, so, shakily, he pushed himself up. He still had that mission and he was going to get in trouble now for being late.

He breathed heavily and clutched at his side. Making his way into the small bathroom, he cleaned himself up as best he could, wrapping the bleeding injuries.

_I look…like hell…no, I'm fine…I'm completely fine. _

Sighing, he gathered his things and left, hurrying as fast as he could. Sure enough, he was late as all the others were there waiting, glaring at him as he arrived.

"Sorry…let's go, un." He mumbled to the team he was now in charge of.

The others said nothing but continued to look at him disdainfully, though they followed. Takumi sped up his pace a bit and started running next to Deidara.

"Why were you late?" He whispered. Was he, concerned? Deidara shook the thought away.

"I…I um, lost track of time, un."

Takumi raised an eyebrow.

"Are you feeling alright? You look like hell."

"I'm fine." Deidara answered curtly.

"We could always go back you know…"

"I said I'm fine, un."

But even as he said this he felt a wave of pain passing over him and he cringed. He held his stomach and tried to block out the pain.

_Ugh…not now…just do this quickly…_

Takumi didn't seem very convinced but nodded and said nothing.

They continued on for half an hour. With each passing minute, Deidara only felt the pain increasing but tried to push past it as he sped up his pace. It was no use. He felt a sharp stabbing pain in his stomach and began coughing. Takumi turned to him.

"Deidara, do you want to stop? You're leading this…if you're not feeling well you should- oh god."

Deidara had stated coughing blood again. What Takumi had been saying barely registered in his mind. He felt dizzy and could vaguely make out words. All at once he felt himself falling as the world faded in front of him.

* * *

Deidara woke up to see Takumi's face hovering over him as well as one of the other Corps members who he identified as their medic. He was vaguely aware of the other Corps presence as they hung out in the background. Slowly, he sat up.

"Deidara…" Takumi started, asking the question with his eyes only.

_Damnit! Not now…_

"Let's go…un." He said, getting to his feet. He felt a little better. The medic must have done something to relieve the pain.

"But…" Takumi started again.

"I said let's go. I'm fine, just tired is all, un."

The medic arched an eyebrow. Deidara knew he wasn't fooling anyone, but the other Corps members would accept it. After, it didn't matter to them. All they wanted to do was finish the mission and get as far away from him as possible.

Deidara started leading the team again. And, like before, Takumi quickly caught up with him.

"Hey, you can't do this to yourself. You're sick!" He whispered to the blonde shinobi.

"No I'm not. I'm fine. I told you, I'm just tired, un."

"Deidara, since when do 'just tired' people cough up blood? Huh? You shouldn't be out here."

Deidara didn't really have an excuse for that one.

"We're finishing this mission, un." He answered curtly and picked up the pace.

For the most part, the mission ran smoothly. More than once however, Deidara felt a sharp pain in his stomach and almost passed out. He forced himself to push past the pain. There was no way in hell he was going back; he couldn't give them any excuses to do so. No, he had to finish this mission.

They had all made it back to the village safely and parted their separate ways. Everyone that is, except for Takumi. He stuck around the blonde until everyone left. Deidara fixed his eyes on the older shinobi as if asking him why he wasn't leaving with the others.

"You accepted another mission for the day after tomorrow." He stated. Deidara raised an eyebrow.

"What of it, un?"

"You're sick. And don't try to tell me otherwise. You look like you've been through hell and back and you're not fooling anyone. You should really take some time off and _rest_."

"I'm _fine_ Takumi. And there's too much work for breaks. I'll-"

Suddenly, Deidara broke off as a pain worse than all the others before coursed through his stomach and other injuries. He began coughing violently, bringing himself to his knees with the pain as blood leaked out of his mouth and dribbled between his fingers.

Takumi was beside him in an instant.

"Deidara…come on. Let me at least take you home."

Deidara shook his head.

"N-no…" He managed to cough out as another even worse pain wracked his body.

"Deidara. Stop it. You're obviously not fine. I should be taking you to the hospital."

Deidara's eyes widened and he shook his head.

"N-no…c-can't…n-no…" He said, coughing out each word as more blood spewed from his mouth onto the ground.

He couldn't go home. Not like this. His uncle would kill him. Or do something worse than death, he knew it. And he couldn't go to the hospital. They would tell his uncle and that would be even worse than him going home.

He thought he heard Takumi saying something to him but he couldn't make it out. He was coughing too hard and his head felt dizzy.

…

The next thing Deidara knew, he was lying on something soft with a cool cloth covering his forehead. He moaned slightly as he felt an aching pain in his stomach.

Where was he? How did he get there?

He blinked slowly and sighed a bit. It had been a long time since he had anything so comfortable, and even now he couldn't enjoy it because of the dull pain coursing through his body.

"Hey, you awake?"

Deidara thought he knew that voice.

"Takumi…un?" He turned his head slightly towards the voice.

Sure enough, there was the older shinobi, sitting next to the bed and looking at him grimly.

"Where…."

"I brought you to my house since you seemed so adamant about yours and the hospital. But Deidara, you were injured badly by someone. Don't deny it, I saw the wounds myself. What happened to you?"

Deidara averted his gaze. He didn't know why Takumi had taken the time of day to do this for him. Everyone else would have just left him to die. Still, he didn't want to tell. If his uncle found out….

He shuddered. He didn't want to think about that. But, then again, if it wasn't for Takumi he wouldn't have lasted. He felt like he owed the older shinobi something.

Deidara turned his eyes back towards the other. Takumi was gazing at him expectantly, a small frown present on his face.

"Promise not to tell, un?"

Takumi nodded.

"Yes, I promise."

"But you'll hate me after this…"

"I won't hate you Deidara."

_Yeah right. So he says. _

"My uncle…un…" He said, in barely a whisper.

"Is he the one that hurt you?"

"Yeah…"

"Why?"

"Because I'm a freak, un."

Takumi waited for an explanation.

_Aw, hell with it. Might as well tell him anyways…_

Deidara pulled out one of his hands from under the covers of the bed.

"You know…I never told you my surname…It's Yasutake. Deidara Yasutake."

He uncurled his fingers and showed it to the shinobi. Takumi only looked for a minute, making Deidara uneasy. He was pretty certain that Takumi would hate him now and maybe even kill him.

"Actually, that explains a lot." Takumi stated calmly.

Deidara stared in shock.

"I didn't know there were any people from your clan left." He continued. "But I don't hate you. What everyone else thinks is stupid. You're not a freak, you're unique, which is something the village sorely lacks."

Deidara just stared at a loss for words. He wondered if he had perhaps hit his head on something and if this was all just a hallucination. A vision concocted in his subconscious. Those were the kindest words anyone had said to him in eight years or more.

"Why didn't you fight him back?" Takumi asked suddenly. "I'm sure you have the strength…"

"I…I couldn't…I just…I couldn't…un…" Memories of all his uncle ever did to him suddenly came rushing back and Deidara almost felt like crying.

Takumi nodded in understanding.

"You should tell the Tsuchikage, Deidara. It doesn't matter who you are he has no right to treat you like this. And also, you shouldn't accept any more missions until your injuries heal which might take quite some time."

Deidara shook his head.

"The Tsuchikage won't listen to me. And…I need to take the missions. I have to…I'm not going back, un."

"Then I'll tell him."

"Hey! You promised not t-" Deidara broke off as he felt a spasm of pain in his stomach and started coughing.

"You're right, I promised. I won't do it then. Just go to sleep. You're not going home in this condition."

Deidara only nodded, too weak and exhausted to protest any longer as he felt darkness pulling him in.

He didn't go home the next day. Or the day after that. Takumi let him stay and recover. Deidara had thought of never going back but he didn't know where else he could go. Maybe Takumi would let him stay but he felt like he had imposed too much on the older shinobi already. Also, he was sure his uncle would be looking for him soon.

He had also convinced Takumi to let him go for the mission. He wasn't going to back out of that. He was much better now, especially since he hadn't seen his uncle in two days. He would go.

Deidara had actually begun to feel pretty good about the whole matter. Maybe he really wouldn't go back to his uncle. That bastard couldn't boss him around forever. True, he still had two more years in his uncle's custody but he could figure something out. Maybe Takumi would help him. Maybe he could finally start over, forget everything and just do what he wanted. Maybe people would stop looking at him funny and maybe they would actually care.

It was a dream.

Deidara was taking his turn at the watch for the night, gazing up at the night sky and watching his breath cloud out and disappear. He was thinking, dreaming about what it would be like to finally have a life. A life where people didn't hate him. All at once, he sensed at least a dozen, if not more, enemy chakra presences. Quietly, he stood up, masking his chakra. He needed to let the rest of the team know.

Quickly and silently he made his way to the encampment but was surprised to find no one there. He looked around, panicking.

_Where the hell did they get off to? Now's not the time for petty games. _

He heard a shout go up and the clang of weapons. He hurried his way over to where the noise had come from. There he saw the other seven members of the operation deeply engaged. He jumped in and found Takumi.

"What the hell happened here? Why weren't you guys at the camp, un?" He asked Takumi though the question was directed at practically everyone there.

"Daiki sensed an enemy down here and convinced some of the others to follow. I tried to stop them along with the rest of the team but we were attacked."

Deidara was furious. Sure, it wasn't like he expected everyone to _like_ him but they had just jeopardized a mission and all their lives by going against orders and doing something idiotic.

"Daiki! You idiot! No one was supposed to leave the camp! There's too many for us to fight right now; the hell were you thinking, un?" Deidara shouted.

Not that he expected the other ninja to actually listen, he was just angry. There really were too many of the enemy. They were going to have to be smart about this.

"Well where were you then, oh fearless leader? They were getting closer and you weren't around so I went to investigate, simple as that."

"I was on watch! You deliberately defied orders and now look at this mess! Ugh…never mind that right now though. What's done is done. Look, there at least twelve more coming so everyone stay on your guard, un!"

The whole team fought as hard as they could but the enemies just kept coming. Deidara wondered where they all could be coming from as there seemed to be an endless amount of them. He was beginning to wear down and he knew that meant the rest of the team probably was as well. They were going to have to think of something and quick.

Just then, one of the members of his team was stabbed, and collapsed. Someone else tried to get to him but the enemy swarmed, beating the downed ninja to a bloody pulp. Deidara stared, as did the rest of the team, in shock at what was happening to their comrade. He was literally being torn apart from the inside out as his horrifying screams pierced the air. Deidara swallowed as his eyes darted around quickly. The enemy was distracted with the downed ninja; they had a chance to get away. He hated to do it, but they would have to leave their comrade. He was dead anyways, or would be soon, Deidara knew it. He really didn't want to do it…to leave this person alone…even if they had hated him. Still, if they didn't leave everyone else would die too.

"Quick, follow me, un." He hissed to the rest of the team.

"Hey, you can't just leave him there!" Someone protested.

"Do you want to die? I don't want to leave him but look…he's dead now anyways. I'll come back for the body but right now we have to get out of here or die, un!"

Deidara leapt nimbly away from two of the enemy shinobi who were attacking him. He felt five of the others do the same but one stayed. It was only a matter of seconds before the enemy realized that all but one of their prey had gotten away. They gave up a yell and descended upon the single ninja left. Deidara averted his eyes and moved forward as the ninja's screams filled the night.

They ran through the night as fast as they could. There were far too many for them to fight; they needed a plan to get them away. Unfortunately, as soon as the enemy finished with their latest victim, they pursued the Corps members eventually catching up and surrounding them.

Forced to stop and fight, Deidara tried looking around for something that could take them all out at once. He heard more horrifying screams as other members of the team were tortured to death. He wished that he had something that would just obliterate the enemy then and there. He had his kekkei genkai which he had been using for some time now with the clay, but the bombs weren't strong enough to blast all of the enemy.

Deidara's eyes swept the field for the remaining members of the Corps. Now there was only Takumi, one other member, and himself. Five of the others had already been brutally killed by the enemies and Deidara could see the mangled corpses lying on the ground. The three remaining members stood back to back, each holding their weapons as the enemy surrounded them.

"Look," Deidara began, he had an idea.

But before he could tell the other two what it was, the third ninja lost it. She charged right into the enemy shrieking something at the top of her lungs only to be almost decapitated. She fell to the ground with most of her head hanging off her body, but she was not dead. She tried to scream but she couldn't. Both Deidara and Takumi watched wide eyed as she was cruelly cut open and her organs pulled out. As if that wasn't enough, the enemy proceeded to mangle the body further, cutting it up into tiny pieces even after she had died.

Deidara suddenly felt dizzy. His mouth went dry and he felt like he couldn't move his body. He had seen cruelty but nothing like this. Nothing before like this. He was brought back to reality by Takumi shouting his name.

"Deidara! What do we do?"

Deidara snapped into focus.

"See that cliff face over there, un?" He asked the other. Takumi nodded.

"If I can bomb it at just the right angle it will create a landslide and bury them all. Cover me, un."

Deidara jumped off to get into position. He only hoped it would work and that he didn't kill himself or Takumi in the process. He heard Takumi give a cry of pain and he turned to see an enemy stabbing him. He stood, shocked for a moment before snapping back into action. Quickly making a couple of bombs he sent them flying towards the cliff and watched as the following landslide did its job. Then he remembered.

_Takumi._

Deidara ran back to where he had last seen his friend but couldn't find him anywhere.

"Takumi! Takumi! Takumi where are you?" He called out, his voice desperate. He looked around but couldn't see the other shinobi. Walking past a bolder that had fallen as a result of the landslide he heard a pained gasp and quickly whipped his head around. He stood frozen in place, a look of realization and shock plastered on his face. Takumi was lying under the giant bolder, his body mostly crushed by it. Cursing himself for being so careless he was beside the shinobi in an instant.

"T-takumi…un…" He began. He felt tears threatening to leak out of the corners of his eyes. The only other person besides his mother to ever care about him was dying in front of him. What was worse, it was his fault. Unintentionally of course but it was his fault all the same.

"Deidara…" Takumi wheezed. "You…have to…get out of here…now. There…were still others…they'll come back…go…." Takumi broke off coughing and Deidara saw the blood dribble from his mouth.

He shook his head.

"N-no…I can't go back without you…un…"

Takumi looked like he wanted to say something but just then three more enemy shinobi came. Deidara tried to take them out but while he was busy with two of them he saw the third cut his friend's head clean off. He stopped fighting and only watched, wide-eyed. Inside he was screaming.

_NO! No…no…this is all my fault…I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry Takumi…_

He felt a single tear sliding down his cheek and then someone hit him over the head. He fell to the ground with a _thud!_

His vision faded in and out, the world swirled around him.

_I'm so sorry…everyone…I'm so sorry…_

* * *

Deidara was quite surprised to find himself awake again. It would appear as if he hadn't died, but how could that be possible? He sat up and almost instantly regretted it as his head pounded in protest and a wave of nausea passed over him.

"Well, well, it looks like the boy is awake." He heard a voice sneer.

"Who are you, un?" He shouted out, his head banging in protest to the loud noise he just created.

"Feisty are we? Heheh, I like that. Look, let's just say if you want to get out alive you're going to have to do something for us."

"Never, un." He spat.

"Look, I don't have time for your personal complaints. What I want is simply this; you will use that wonderful jutsu of yours to make us a nice powerful bomb. Then we'll let you go. Simple as that. Of course, if you refuse, we might have to kill you. But I don't think you'd want to do that. Even if you don't give a damn about your life I'm sure you care about your village, am I right? Someone would have to warn them of the impending danger…wouldn't they? And you're the only one who knows…pity."

"You want me to make a bomb for you to use against my village? What makes you think I'd do something like that, un?" Deidara yelled, his head screaming in pain.

"Well, I didn't say that specifically, but you're pretty smart. Yes, I intend to use the bomb against Iwa. But look at it this way, either way we're going to attack your village. You can either die and they won't know of the danger at all, or you could cooperate, live, and have time to warn them."

"And I'm just supposed to trust you, un?" Deidara asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm not asking you to. But I give you my word that I'll give you plenty of time to warn everyone."

Deidara turned some thoughts over in his mind. His head was spinning and he couldn't think properly. The horrors of his teammates' death were still fresh in his memory and he shuddered when he thought of more people having to endure that.

"Alright…" He answered finally, with a hint of uncertainty. "I'll do it…un…"

He couldn't see the man very well but he could feel him smirking.

"Very good. You have an hour. I'll be back then. Anything you need should be able to be found here."

And with that the man left. Deidara sighed and set to work, putting together one of his bombs and hoping against hope that he hadn't made the wrong decision.

As soon as he finished to the man's specifications and was set free, he took off running towards Iwa ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. Eventually he reached the outskirts of the village panting for breath but he dared not stop. He had come upon one of the back exits and was now in a more destitute part of the village. He was a long way from the Tsuchikage's palace but he had to get there and quickly. He started running again when he heard what he had been hoping not to hear. Bombs, going off.

_I thought he said he'd give me enough time! This isn't enough damn time!_

People started shrieking, screaming, and mass confusion ensued. They tried to leave the village as if outside they were safer, but Deidara knew the truth.

"Don't! Stop running that way! They're all out there! You'll die!" He screamed at them, hoping they would listen.

Of course, they ignored him. Deidara could only watch in horror as the same enemies he had been battling earlier came in through the confusion and began murdering countless numbers of helpless people.

Time almost stood still. He felt like he couldn't move he was so frozen in shock.

_Where the hell are the ANBU? Haven't they figured out by now what's going on?_

Deidara wanted to help but he couldn't move. He watched helplessly as a building fell onto a little girl and the girl's mother screamed in agony. Before he knew what he was doing he shot forward to help. His head was throbbing, he felt nauseous, but he had to help. This was all his fault.

His hands burned and bled from trying to dig the girl out. The mother was half helping half screaming at him with words he just couldn't make out. His eyes burned and watered with the smoke but he kept digging. It was no use. Debris flew out of the sky. A piece of something hit the girl on the head, causing her brains to pop out. The mother screamed.

Deidara tried to pull her up and get her away from there but she resisted. An enemy came, wielding an axe. Deidara stood against him but he knocked the exhausted blonde back and then proceeded to kill the woman by brutally tearing her open. Blood spewed freely from the woman's wounds and even though she was dead with one blow, the other kept chopping away at her with the axe so that Deidara could barely recognize the body.

He got up and stumbled forward, blood leaking from a gash on his forehead. He pushed the man away. The man turned and recognized the blonde shinobi whom he thought he had just knocked out. He turned and before Deidara knew it, he was hit over the head and fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from his head injuries. He watched in horror and silence as more and more atrocities were committed. He noticed all the blood on the streets, mixing with the dirt and snow turning an awful brown and red color. The smell was awful; he felt like vomiting. Slowly, slowly, his eyes glazed over and the world turned to black before him.

Deidara awoke to the sounds of something beeping softly beside him. His eyelids fluttered open and he realized almost instantly that he was in a hospital. He tried sitting up but gasped as pain shot through his entire body. Slowly, he sank back down again. He noticed that most of his body was covered in constrictive bandages and also that there were some sort of clear liquid running into his veins. He moaned softly. Everything hurt so much.

He heard someone come in through the door and strained his neck to see who it was. When he saw his uncle he almost shrank back in fear but was slightly relieved when he saw the Tsuchikage was also there along with a nurse. His uncle wouldn't dare do anything to him in the presence of others. Or, at least not the Tsuchikage.

They immediately realized he was awake and quickly made their way over. The nurse checked a few things before whispering something to the Tsuchikage who nodded. Then, she left.

"How are you feeling, Deidara?" His uncle asked, a look of mock concern present on his face. Oh what Deidara would give to make him suffer…

Deidara was trying to figure out how to respond to this. He couldn't lie and say everything was just peachy when it was apparently not. But to be quite frank with his uncle was never a good idea either.

"Um, it hurts…but I'll be fine, un."

"Good." His uncle nodded and a fake smile appeared.

"Deidara" His attention turned towards the Tsuchikage.

"You were found in the south end of the village, in that attack. Weren't you supposed to be on a mission? What happened to your team?"

Deidara chose his words carefully. He couldn't tell the Tsuchikage about his involvement with their enemy. That would get him killed for sure.

"We were attacked by the same group who attacked the village. Everyone else was…killed. I managed to barely get away but when I got back to the village they were already here. So I tried to help but I guess that didn't work out too well…un…"

The Tsuchikage nodded slightly.

"You're suffering from a severe concussion along with multiple other injuries. Still, you should be released back to your uncle within a few days. We'll talk about missions after that."

The Tsuchikage got up as did his uncle.

"Get some rest, Deidara." Here the Tsuchikage leaned in a bit. "_You're going to need it."_

Deidara shuddered as both the Tsuchikage and his uncle gave him obvious fake smiles and left the room. Deidara wasn't sure what he was supposed to make of the last part of the Tsuchikage's statement, but he was sure it wasn't good.

He moaned as he felt more pain shooting through his body and silently, he cried for his lost friend and all the people he had seen viciously murdered. The Tsuchikage didn't even seem to care.

* * *

"_Did he even care?"_

"_Tch. Not like I know. He certainly didn't act like it, un."_

"_What kind of a place is this?"_

"_One that believes ninja are tools. One that doesn't think people have much value as individuals. That's what, un."_

"…_I…I can see why you left…"_

"_I didn't choose that, un."_

"_Huh?"_

* * *

It had been a few days after Deidara had been released and his uncle still had yet to go back to his old ways. Deidara was holding his breath. Maybe the man was sincere this time? He shook the thought away, he had to be cautious.

The Tsuchikage still hadn't called him up for any missions even though they were now severely low on Corps members since the murder of his team. He wondered what the man could possibly be planning. Maybe he was just letting Deidara rest for a bit, though the blonde highly doubted it.

Once again, he was in the kitchen, drinking a cup of tea with his head on the table. It still ached quite a bit though it was much better. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to block out the aching pain. He heard his uncle enter the room and a chair scraping across the floor. Suddenly, he felt a cool hand on his head. His eyes shot open and he looked up in surprise at his uncle. Such a gentle touch was something unknown to him.

"You still got a fever, huh?" His uncle asked. It was more of a statement.

Deidara didn't really know. He was still feeling tired and achy. He supposed it wouldn't be abnormal for him to be slightly warm.

He nodded, being too tired to respond or really care.

"Well, I was going to ask if you would do something for me, but maybe you should rest more first."

This was all entirely new to Deidara. He didn't know what was going on and he wasn't sure he wanted to. He still only stared at the man whose hand had not left his forehead and was now running his hand over his entire face gently.

"Look, Deidara, I want to apologize for everything I've done to you. I don't know what had gotten into me in the past but I want to start over. I guess seeing you hurt like that made me realize how much of an ass I was. Can you forgive me?"

Deidara looked into his uncle's eyes. They seemed free of malice and yet something screamed inside Deidara. Something told him this was _wrong. _This wasn't right, his uncle wouldn't just change overnight.

Slowly, he nodded.

"Yeah, un."

Something told Deidara he had just made a huge mistake, trusting his uncle like that. But he wanted to believe it so badly. He didn't want to hurt anymore. He just wanted someone to care and now that Takumi was gone there was no one.

His uncle smiled and Deidara was sure he caught a passing glint of something in his uncle's eye, but he brushed it aside.

"Good, good boy." His uncle said, still stroking Deidara's forehead.

"Um, what was it that you wanted me to do, un?" Deidara asked in a somewhat raspy voice.

"Oh, don't worry about that right now. Unless you think you're up to it…"

Really, he just wanted to sleep but he didn't want this newfound friendship with his uncle to disappear. He decided doing what the man wanted wouldn't hurt.

"Yeah…I think I can do it, un."

"Well, if you want to try…" His uncle removed his hand from Deidara's forehead and Deidara almost whimpered in protest. He hadn't realized how much of a relief that had actually been to his aching head.

"I need you to get a scroll from the Tsuchikage's palace for me. I'd do it myself but being a Corps member and all you have access that I don't. Don't worry, it's perfectly fine, the Tsuchikage and I talked it over but he forgot to give me the scroll while I was there. I could go and explain things but security has been rather tight since, well the attack. It would just be easier if you went, no explanations needed."

Something about this whole thing seemed off to Deidara. But, either because of the pain, exhaustion, or both he just couldn't figure it out.

"Where is it, un?" He asked.

"Oh, just go into the scroll library and grab it. It's one of the ones in the back room; you know, the place only the ANBU and Corps are allowed? There are only a few scrolls in there; it's the one on the top right shelf, all the way on the right."

"Alright…" Deidara began to stand up. "I'll go do it now I guess, un."

"That would be great!" His uncle beamed.

Deidra really felt that there was something off about this and also that there was something he should be remembering about the room his uncle was talking about, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

Quickly, he left and made his way to the Tsuchikage's palace, easily getting into the room his uncle wanted and leaving with the scroll. There actually weren't too many ninja around at the time and he found it rather odd. But he shrugged it off and just made his way home.

He entered his house and went back into the kitchen where he found his uncle waiting.

"Well?"

"Here you go, un." Deidara said in a bored tone, handing the scroll over.

"Perfect!" His uncle unrolled the scroll and grinned as he looked it over.

Deidara was curious as to the scroll's exact contents but was too tired to really investigate and instead slumped over in a chair. He felt his uncle's presence behind him and a cool hand running over his forehead.

"You did an excellent job Deidara. Good boy. Go get some sleep now. You look absolutely exhausted. Do you want me to get you anything?"

Deidara turned his bleary gaze to meet his uncle's. He really wasn't feeling so good at the moment. He shook his head and got up.

"No thanks…I'll just go to bed, un."

"Alright, let me know if you need anything."

Deidara blinked and walked off towards his room. He really didn't understand this sudden change but he felt awful. He just wanted to sleep for whatever reason now. And, as soon as he got to his room he collapsed on the low bed and almost instantly fell asleep.

Deidara woke to the sounds of someone, or actually, a lot of someones, outside the house. He sat up, groaning a bit as his head ached. He got up and made his way down to the main part of the house where his uncle was.

"What's going on, un?"

"Awake so soon…" His uncle mumbled to himself.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. I don't know what they're doing out there. Probably just a bunch of idiots fooling around. You should go back to sleep Deidara. You look pale."

Deidara opened his mouth to say something when suddenly, ANBU burst in through the door. Deidara's eyes widened in shock.

_What the hell is going on?_

"Hideki Moto," One of the ANBU addressed his uncle. "Our sources indicate that you are in possession of one of Iwa's closely guarded kinjutsu scrolls. It would be best if you cooperate with us now and hand over the scroll. Your punishment will be less severe."

Deidara stared for a minute before it all clicked. Now he knew why his uncle had been so nice to him. For goodness' sake the man just had him steal a damn kinjutsu scroll! How could his uncle think a thing like that would go unmissed? What was more, he tricked Deidara into doing it for him as well. He suddenly felt dizzy.

_What is wrong with me?_

"I don't have anything!" His uncle shouted in protest.

"I'm sorry, but our tracking has lead us here."

"I don't have anything…" His uncle started again. Then, slowly, he turned to the blonde. "But Deidara went out earlier and came back with something…"

_No…he-he wouldn't!_

The ANBU turned towards him. Deidara could sense their disdain for him. Though they respected his uncle, everyone loathed him.

"Deidara Yasutake, did you steal the scroll? Answer me honestly now."

This must have been his uncle's plan all along. And he was foolish enough to believe it. How much of an idiot could he be?

"I…I took a scroll…But my uncle asked me to get it! He said the Tsuchikage and him had it all arranged and that it was perfectly fine! I wasn't aware that it was a kinjutsu scroll or I never would have done it! Please, you've got to believe me, un!"

"He's lying." His uncle stated calmly. "I never said anything of the sort."

"Where's the scroll, Deidara?" The ANBU asked.

"I don't have it! I told you, I did it for my uncle! Please, I'm not lying! I gave him the scroll when I got home!" He was practically shouting now.

Though Deidara couldn't see the ANBU's face, he knew the person behind the mask was probably frowning at him.

"I didn't mean to! I didn't know…Please, I did it for my uncle; I didn't know!" He shouted again.

"He's out of his mind." His uncle sighed. "He was in an accident a week or so ago and he's still not feeling well. Look, he's just imagining things. He should really be in bed."

"I'M FINE! YOU TOLD ME TO GET THE DAMN SCROLL!" Deidara shrieked at the top of his lungs.

"Well, he admitted to taking it. He may be ill but I'm still going to have to take him with me. Deidara, tell me where the scroll is and this will be much easier on you."

There was obvious spite in the ANBU's voice signifying that he didn't give a damn if the blonde was dying. He would still take him.

"If you must…" His uncle sighed. "Deidara, I'm shocked. Please, tell the ANBU where the scroll is."

Deidara couldn't believe it. His uncle was playing all his cards and Deidara had no defense. Why had he tried to tell the truth in the first place? Nobody listened to him. He shifted his eyes from the ANBU to his uncle. He felt like he was going to pass out. He didn't think his injuries would still be bothering him so much…

Then, it hit him. He had been feeling worse than normal today. Now he was sure his uncle had drugged his tea or something. He wouldn't put it beyond the man.

"I…you, you lied to me!" Deidara screamed, ignoring the pain he was feeling in his head.

The ANBU sighed and snapped his fingers. Two more of the tracker ninja came in to grab Deidara. It was now or never. He knocked them both back and ran out the door. He began running for…who knew what. He knew now he needed to get out of the village. No one was going to believe his story. Not with his uncle around anyways. They would only capture him and then probably kill him. Or something worse he wasn't sure.

He sensed the ANBU hot on his tail. They sent some weapons his way which he dodged for the most part. As he neared the exit to the village however, he stumbled and fell forward. He turned his head quickly and seeing that there was no way he was going to be able to get away from the ninja, he stuffed his hands into his clay pouch which he still had on. He felt something else there as well. It was the scroll. So his uncle had wanted to frame him all along. He didn't have time to think about this though. Quickly, he made some explosives. He wasn't even sure how deadly they were, he couldn't think. He just made them and sent them flying towards the ANBU.

A massive explosion was heard and Deidara covered his face as bits of stone and snow flew towards him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the ANBU were all lying dead in the snow. Shock became apparent on his face as his mind registered what he had just done. Shakily, he got up, and backed off. Then, he ran. There would be more ANBU coming soon. He needed to get as far away from Iwa by then as possible.

* * *

Deidara finished his story, still fiddling with his hands and looking down. He felt Sakura and Sasuke exchange a glance. He was almost beginning to regret telling them everything. Why would they care? It wasn't of any concern to them. But he had needed to tell someone. The only other people who had known about his past were Sasori and Itachi. The former of which was dead and the latter…well, he never knew what Itachi thought.

Everyone was silent for a while, deep in thought. Finally Sakura asked, "So…um, how exactly did you wind up in Akatsuki then?"

Deidara sighed a bit.

"After I left Iwa I knew that there was no place that would welcome a missing nin. I wandered around just kinda living off whatever I could find…Eventually, I guess my reputation caught up with me. A few terrorist organizations found me out and got me to cooperate with them. I fell for it every time too…then, because of my involvement with them, Akatsuki found out about me I guess. Itachi, Kisame and Sasori-danna were sent to bring me back. Itachi used his Sharingan on me and that's pretty much how I landed in Akatsuki, un."

"Oh…"

Deidara sighed.

"I'm such an idiot…un…"

Sakura looked like she wanted to say something but suddenly, Deidara stood up. Sakura looked surprised but Sasuke raised an eyebrow and asked, "Ambush?"

"No…patrol. Still, they're hanging around. I'll…go check it out. You two stay here, un."

And with that he made his way out the door, masking his chakra.

_I wonder…I wonder if he knows…_

* * *

**A/N: Yeah..I was a little cryptic at the end there. :P Also, I am not ignoring Deidara's chest mouth if there are people wondering about that. I'm just getting to it later. And, if you're wondering, Takumi is probably like, 3 to 4 years older than Deidara so at the time he appears in the story he's like, 18 or so.**

**In this fic, Corps are sort of like a special division of ANBU. Kinda like Konoha's Root. I don't really know if that's true in the anime/manga, but we don't know much about them either so why not?**

**Also, Deidara's uncle doesn't have the same surname because he wasn't from the clan. He was like, his dad's brother. But more on that later :P**

**Hope it wasn't too sucky and also that you all enjoyed it!**

**Thank you to everyone who has been supporting this fic through reviews and whatnot! I wouldn't be able to write my chapters without you guys! :3**

**Please R&R!**


	12. Aquaintances

**A/N: Two chapters in one day? Man I'm on a roll! Anyways, here's the next chapter of Times :3**

**I realized I forgot to throw in Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi in the last chapter and I meant to, but I forgot. So they're in this chapter instead! And Itachi too! Yay. **

**I suppose not much really happens. I added a lot of dialogue because I felt like focusing more on the characters than the plot this time. Also, I just love Kuro so I had to give her a lot of lines. **

**Enjoy the chapter!  
**

**I (still) don't own Naruto u_u**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Acquaintances**

* * *

Deidara made his way over to where the patrol ninja were hanging out, making sure to keep his chakra masked and hiding in rocks surrounding the house. They weren't ANBU so he wasn't altogether too worried about the situation but he still wanted to know what they were doing there and why they hadn't left. He was also thinking about just slipping away and finishing the mission for Akatsuki while he was out. The sooner he could leave Iwa the better.

He came closer to the other ninja to pick up just what they were saying.

"Hey, look what I got here!" One of the ninja was saying. All the others crowded around to take a look.

"Heh, sweet!"

"Damn straight!"

"Shouldn't we finish up first?"

"Eh, this was the last patrol and there's no one here. We go back and they're gonna have mountains of paperwork for us back at HQ. Let's have some fun while there's no one around!"

This was followed by several cheers. Deidara rolled his eyes.

Patrol ninja. Slacking off, that's all they were doing. As long as they stayed hidden there was nothing to worry about. They were all just going to get high and maybe break a few things.

They must be newer patrols though to take such a thing lightly. Deidara wanted to knock them all over the head for being such idiots. They wouldn't get away with it. But if they saw him they would call the ANBU faster than he could say "katsu" and he really didn't want to have to deal with ANBU. Well, he could just quietly slip away now and finish his mission.

Silently, Deidara made his way up the path towards the main part of the village.

_Get in, grab what you need, get out. Don't have to make this so complicated. _

A sudden wave of nostalgia passed over him as he remembered the_ last_ time he made a trip to the Tsuchikage's palace.

_Don't think about that now. It's in the past. Can't change it. _

It was dark. Night had come and there was a bit of snow falling lightly. Deidara would have liked to stop for a moment and watch it but he just didn't have the time. He _had_ to finish this.

Entering the main area of Iwa, he noiselessly slipped into the shadows and began sprinting towards the building in the center of the village. Soon, he was in the building itself, making his way through the many rooms to find the one he wanted.

Finally, he found it. Taking a shaky breath inward he looked around but could neither see nor sense anyone in the vicinity.

_Find that scroll and get out. _

He began his search. It wasn't long before he found what he had been looking for. Carefully, he lifted the fat scroll into his hands and unrolled it a bit.

_This is it…_

Battle plans. For all of Iwa's forces. _This_ is what Akatsuki wanted. Deidara pretty much held all of the Iwagakure ninja's lives in his hands. With this, Akatsuki would be able to strike some major damage against the hidden village effectively eliminating them from the war. And even though the other hidden villages didn't care much for each other it would be a blow on them as well. Iwa might not be friendly to the other nations but they _were_ pretty important in the war against Akatsuki. To think this one act would have such an impact on the war…Deidara shuddered.

_Alright, just, go now. Stop thinking. Go. _

He started to place the scroll inside his cloak when he heard a noise in the hall. As fast as lightning he put the scroll back in its place and hid among some of the shelves, masking his chakra. He hoped that whoever it was would just pass but unfortunately he had no such luck. Two ninja entered the room, talking loudly.

"Honestly, why are _we _the ones stuck organizing this dump? We're ninja! Not damn interns!"

Wait. Deidara knew that voice. Pretty soon its owner came into view.

Kurotsuchi.

Deidara knew her. She was the spoiled granddaughter of the Tsuchikage; one of the lucky people who didn't have to deal with all the bureaucracy in Iwa. Someone who had life handed to her on a silver platter.

Alright, maybe that wasn't entirely true. Actually, he didn't know. But he was just the tiniest bit jealous. She had life easy and he remembered back to some of his earlier days in Iwa. She was always surrounded by her friends at the Academy and then later, when he had become part of the Corps, he started seeing more of her. Since she was the Tsuchikage's granddaughter after all.

He didn't know why he remembered her over many of the others. Most people were just a blur as pretty much everyone hated him. But he remembered Kurotsuchi differently. She never had taken part in the teasing. She didn't talk much to him either but somehow Deidara had felt she had been different.

He began to remember one of his encounters with her. She got him in trouble that day but for some reason the recollection didn't make him angry.

* * *

_He had just finished his first mission as a Corps member. All things considered, it had gone better than any other mission he had been on. None of the Corps really liked him but at least they had the decency to keep their snide remarks to themselves. For once he came back without getting into a fight with someone so he was in a fairly good mood, considering. _

_He wandered around a bit outside the Tsuchikage's palace grounds. He didn't want to go home. Not yet. He knew what was there. Besides, he told his uncle he wouldn't be back until after dark. He still had time. Finding a quiet hiding place he sat down and pulled out some clay. He just loved to play around with it. It made him forget about everything else in the world if only for a few minutes. For those brief moments he could worry about nothing, nothing but his art. He'd even learned how to make some small controlled explosives with the clay by using the mouths on his palms. He felt pretty good about figuring that out but it wasn't like he would tell anyone. He had a feeling that wouldn't end well. _

_He had gotten deeply involved in molding a sculpture when someone interrupted his work. _

"_Oh, what are you doing here?"_

_He looked up. There was a girl there, probably a year or so younger than him. He had a feeling he knew her from somewhere…ah, that's right. Kurotsuchi. The Tsuchikage's granddaughter. He remembered her from the Academy. _

"_Nothing, un."_

_He quickly hid the sculpture he had been working on and squeezed his hands into fists. _

_Kurotsuchi laughed a little bit. _

"_I won't tell anyone. Come on, uh, Deidara, right? Show me!"_

_How did she know his name? Then again, who __**didn't**__ know his name?_

"_I don't think that's a good idea…and you probably shouldn't be talking to me, un."_

_She crossed her arms and pouted. _

"_I'll talk to whoever I want. It's not like gramps is around to find us or anything. Besides, their rules are stupid. And I wanna see! Come on, you owe me."_

"_How so?"_

"_You're in my spot!"_

"_Oh, sorry, un."_

_He got up quickly and started moving away. Kurotsuchi laughed again. _

"_You're funny. I don't mind, you can stay. But I want to see what you were doing!"_

_Deidara thought about this. She seemed sincere enough…_

"_If you don't I'll call gramps!" _

_She smirked, a little twinkle in her eye._

"_No, I'll show you, un!"_

_She meant it as a joke but it was threatening enough. He really didn't want to see the Tsuchikage. _

_He got out the sculpture. _

"_It's not finished yet, un."_

_He showed her the little bird he had been working on, only it's head and wings formed. She clapped a bit and giggled. _

"_It's soooo cute! You're pretty good at that!"_

"_Yeah, um, thanks, un."_

_He finished making the bird while Kurotsuchi watched. Suddenly, he had the desire to show her what __**else**__ he could make the sculpture do. _

"_Um, wanna see something, un?"_

_Slowly, he made the little bird flap its wings and he let go of it as it took to the sky. Kurotsuchi watched, wide-eyed. _

"_How do you do that?" She wanted to know._

"_Um, I put some of my chakra in it, un."_

"_Really? How? Show me!"_

"_I don't know…"_

"_Aw come on, please? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplea se?"_

"_I don't think it's a good idea…un…"_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because"_

"_Because why?"_

"_Because…"_

"_Yes?" She quirked an eyebrow. _

"_Oh, fine, but you can't tell anybody."_

"_My lips are sealed."_

_Sighing he showed her one of his palms. _

"_It's my kekkei genkai. I figured out how to use it to infuse chakra into the clay, un." He explained. _

_The girl stared, wide-eyed._

"_Ohhh…that's…kinda cool!"_

_Deidara's mouth hung open. She didn't care?_

"_I guess…"_

"_Wait, is this why gramps says everyone should be afraid of you? Cuz it's not that scary. And you're not scary either. You're funny."_

"_Um, I guess? Want to see something else, un?"_

"_You mean there's more?"_

"_Yeah, watch…"_

_He made a quick hand sign and the tiny bird burst into a bunch of colorful sparks. _

"_Aw wow! Fireworks! That's so cool! But you killed it!"_

"_I can make more. And besides, it couldn't live forever anyways. It was meant to be momentary, un."_

"_Oh, I see…" She nodded slowly. _

"_Kurotsuchi! Where are you?"_

"_Crap" The girl muttered. _

"_They can't see me talking to you, un." Deidara said, slightly worried. What would his uncle say?_

"_Hide me!"_

"_What?"_

"_Come on, do it! I don't want to go back to them yet, they're gonna make me do some boring lessons. Besides, I'm keeping your secrets."_

"_I don't know…"_

"_Just cover for me!" _

_She dashed between some rocks. Deidara stared at her hiding with his arms crossed. _

"_Come on Deidara-nii, pleaaaaaaase? Pleasepleasepleaseple-"_

"_Alright, alright, fine, un."_

_Deidara was slightly shocked at the honorific she gave him. But whatever. He'd cover for her, fine. _

"_Hey you!" A ninja came running up to him. He must have been one of Kurotsuchi's teachers or something. _

"_Have you seen the Tsuchikage's granddaughter anywhere? Hurry up and tell me kid!"_

_Deidara shrugged. _

"_I don't know who you're talking about, un."_

"_Damnit…"_

_The ninja looked around a bit, scowling at Deidara. He could feel the man's contempt for him. _

"_Wait, what's that?"_

"_What's what?"_

"_That!" The ninja pointed to the bits of clay that had exploded from the bird. _

"_Nothing, un." He answered quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. _

_The man picked up a piece. _

"_It looks like…clay! Where the hell did you get this you brat?"_

"_It's mine! I bought it myself, un!"_

"_You shouldn't be allowed to have that stuff!"_

_*Slap*_

_Deidara was sent reeling back from the ninja's blow. _

"_Stop!"_

_Deidara was surprised to see Kurotsuchi running out from her hiding place. _

"_I'm here, I'm here!"_

_She tried to get her sensei's attention. _

"_Kurotsuchi, there you are! What are you doing out here? And what did you just say to me?"_

_Kurotsuchi looked around. _

"_I was, um, I, um…"_

_Deidara had a feeling she was going to be in trouble. He didn't want her to be in trouble. Why, he didn't know. Maybe it was because she was nice to him. _

"_I was talking to her." Deidara interrupted quickly. "It's my fault, I'm sorry, un."_

_Kurotsuchi turned her head to look at him curiously. _

"_You brat!"_

_*Slap*_

"_Don't you know who you're talking to? Don't you dare step out of place!"_

_*Slap*_

"_Come on Kurotsuchi."_

_The shinobi turned dragging an unwilling Kurotsuchi with him. _

_Deidara got up and rubbed his face where the ninja had slapped him. It could have been a lot worse. _

_He looked after the girl. Suddenly, she turned back and smirked at him one last time before she disappeared into the Tsuchikage's tower._

* * *

Deidara remembered that day. She didn't talk to him much after that but a couple times they passed each other and she had always given him that same smirk. It was like the two of them shared some sort of dark secret. Which was true, to be honest. The few times he conversed with her after that she always talked about how much fun the whole situation was. Deidara had always thought she was a little odd if she found dangerous situations like that fun. Then again, she didn't really have to worry too much about the consequences. He supposed he might find it fun too if he were in her position.

"Oh come on Kurotsuchi, it's not really that bad in here."

A masculine voice spoke. Deidara thought he vaguely knew this person as well but he just couldn't remember…

"Not that bad? Look at all this junk we have to go through! Everyone else is out doing something fun and we're stuck in here with a bunch of _scrolls _as friends! Don't tell me it's 'not that bad' Akatsuchi!"

Ah yes, Akatsuchi. The Tsuchikage's bodyguard or something like that, right? Deidara didn't remember him too well, besides the fact that he was often around Kurotsuchi. He didn't seem to be that bad of a person but Deidara never really knew. He probably said all of five words to the guy in his entire life. And they probably consisted of strict formalities. Still, he knew him.

The two came in and settled down to work. It was here Deidara realized, he had a problem. He wasn't going to be able to get the scroll now without them noticing. In fact, getting out might be tricky enough. He didn't really want to wait too long either though. Sakura and Sasuke were both waiting for him and he never told them he was going to finish his mission as well. They might go out and look for him and though he was pretty sure those shinobi hanging around the house wouldn't be a problem, you just never knew.

But he was going to have to wait if he didn't want to deal with ANBU. No way around it. So he sighed slightly and watched them work. Maybe, if he was careful, he could figure out a way to snag the scroll and get out. Then he could leave this place for good.

Unfortunately, he had no such luck. The scroll was always around one of them and Deidara couldn't seem to think of a way to get it out from under their noses.

"Ah well, everything looks in order!" Akatsuchi announced.

Kurotsuchi, for all her complaining, had actually found herself a scroll and began to read it.

"You coming?"

She didn't even look up.

"Eh, I'll stay here for a bit. You can go though."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just leave already." She said, waving her hand in the air.

"Alright then." Akatsuchi said and left through the door.

Deidara sighed. Stupid Kurotsuchi hanging around! He needed to leave damnit!

As soon as Akatsuchi left however, Kurotsuchi got up and ran to the door. She looked down the hall for a bit then silently shut the opening and locked it.

_Just perfect. What the hell is she up to?_

She then ran to the windows and made sure they were securely shut. Deidara wanted to yell at her. She was taking away all his escape routes!

Carefully, Kurotsuchi walked to one of the desks and pulled out a small scroll, unrolled it, looked around once more and began reading. Deidara assumed that whatever it was, it was not something she wanted everyone else knowing about. But, she was away from his scroll now. If only he could find an escape route…

Well, he could unlock one of the windows on the far side. Yes, that would work. As long as he was quick and quiet she wouldn't notice a thing. Carefully, he made his way out of his hiding place and snatched the scroll, burying it in his cloak. Then, he dashed over to one of the far windows.

He managed to unlock the window and threw it up. The only problem was, it made a sort of _creak_ as it opened. Deidara stopped short and listened. He heard Kurotsuchi get up.

"Hello? Who's there?"

_Crap!_

He got out the window, mostly, when she came into view just as he was about to slip out. Her mouth widened a bit and Deidara's eyes also widened as he realized what was going on. Well, he couldn't just leave now. Or he could but then ANBU would chase him. But they would come anyways…he actually didn't know what to do. He was halfway out the window; one leg was hanging inside and the other out, just staring at the girl in front of him.

"Oh my gosh, _Deidara? _Dei-nii, what in the world are you doing here?"

She actually didn't sound angry surprisingly. Just, shocked.

Deidara swallowed.

"Um, well, I, um…something for Akatsuki…un…" He muttered.

Kurotsuchi didn't hear him.

"Come in here before someone sees you! Damnit! Don't stare at me like that! I won't call the ANBU. Not yet anyways." She smirked.

Deidara closed his mouth and nodded, swinging his other leg back inside and shutting the window tight.

"Gosh, I haven't seen you in ages! Come here! What are you doing in Iwa anyways? Come on, don't be shy. Seriously, I'm not pulling anything. Hey are you alright? You look sorda pale."

Deidara made his way towards her and nodded.

"I'm…fine, un." He could hear the hesitation in his own voice.

"Gosh, Dei-nii, relax! Sit down; you look you're gonna pass out or something."

Slowly he sat down in one of the chairs at the desk. Kurotsuchi sat in the chair opposite him.

"So…" She began slowly, "You in Akatsuki now? Eh, but I think I knew that already…But is that why you're here then? For them? Stealing more scrolls?" She laughed lightly.

"Yeah…" He admitted.

"Hm"

Kurotsuchi looked grimly at him.

"Why did you leave?" She asked softly.

"What did they tell you, un?"

"They said you stole the kinjutsu scroll and then ran off. But that's not what happened, is it?"

He tilted his head.

"It's what you want to believe, un."

"Tch, well, what's your story?"

"I did take the scroll. But my uncle told me to. He told me the Tsuchikage was going to give it to him and he just wanted me to pick it up. Later, when the ANBU came, he blamed me and somewhere along the lines hid the scroll in my pouch. So when the ANBU started chasing me I ran off with it. But I didn't know that until I left, un."

"Yeah, I knew there was more to it. I told gramps you wouldn't do something like that!"

"You- wait, you did, un?"

"Yeah, but he didn't listen of course. Just as stubborn as always." She rolled her eyes.

"Um, thanks I guess…"

She laughed.

"You're so funny Dei-nii. Why wouldn't I? But how did Akatuski happen?"

"They forced me to join…"

"Oh…"

"But I'm only working for them as a cover now, un."

"Oh?"

He figured it was alright to tell her. Kurotsuchi would keep his secrets safe.

"I'm working with another member, Itachi Uchiha, to bring Akatsuki down from the inside. Everyone thinks Itachi's dead but that was faked. He gets information from the outside and I get it from the inside. We're giving it to the nations, starting with Konoha, so that they can take out Akatsuki externally. Then we'll finish internally, once it's all said and done, un."

Kurotsuchi nodded.

"But you still have to keep up appearances, huh? What did you take?"

Deidara swallowed thickly.

"Here"

He threw the scroll back at her. Her eyes widened.

"But, this is…"

"I'm not going to do it anymore, un."

Realization slowly seemed to sink into Kurotsuchi.

"But you'll get in trouble with Akatsuki, won't you?"

"Yeah, I'll just come up with an excuse. If I take that…well, you know, un."

She nodded.

"I suppose so. So you're leaving now then?"

"I…have to…I can't stay, un."

"Wait! Why don't you told gramps what you told me? He just has to give you another chance!"

"He…wouldn't do that, un."

"Oh come on! I'll try and convince him too! Please, Deidara-nii? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplea se?"

Deidara shook his head.

"I'm sorry Kurotsuchi. You know he won't. And even if he did…if Akatuski found out they'd be after more than just me. I can't do that yet, un."

Kurotsuchi looked down and bit her lip.

"Too bad." She said softly.

Someone was heard in the hall.

"I have to go…"

"Yeah…"

He got up.

"Dei-nii, wait…"

He stopped and looked at her.

She got up and pressed something into his palm.

"Be careful."

He nodded and quickly opened one of the windows and left. As he ran off he looked at what Kurotsuchi had given him and smirked as he opened his hand.

_So she remembers._

Quickly he made a small clay bird and sent it back towards the window, detonating it when it was close enough. It made a small explosion and burst into a bunch of colors. He looked down again at the little hard bit of clay she had given him. Something inscribed in it.

_Fireworks._

* * *

As quickly as he could he made his way back to the house and entered silently. The shinobi were long gone by this time but he still didn't want to risk any unnecessary noise. He sighed as he shut the door behind him.

"Well there you are!"

He turned and saw Sakura, arms crossed staring at him. Sasuke was there too, face impassive.

"Where have you been? It's been over an hour since you left!"

"Nowhere special. The ninja outside were just a bunch of patrols goofing off, nothing to worry about, un."

"So where did you go then?"

"To finish my mission, un."

"Well?"

"We can leave now, un."

"So you accomplished it then?"

"Not quite…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we can go now, un."

"But-"

"Alright then," Sasuke interrupted the kunoichi. "Do we have to leave now?"

"Now would be best, un."

"Then let's go."

Deidara nodded and the three quickly gathered whatever they had and left the way they came. As they re-entered the tunnel and made their way through Deidara started to feel a sense of relief. Sure, now he had Tobi and Pein to deal with, but he'd think of something. He had made his decision. He wouldn't betray Iwa anymore than he had to.

Sasuke fell into pace beside the blonde.

"You didn't do it, did you?" He asked quietly so that Sakura couldn't hear. Deidara shook his head.

"No…I couldn't…"

Sasuke nodded.

"What are you going to tell Akatsuki?"

"I don't know, un."

"Will they believe you?"

"Maybe, maybe not, un."

"What do you expect them to do?"

"Kill me, un."

Sasuke only nodded again. The two shinobi seemed to have a silent understanding.

They made their way to the exit and Deidara let them out. Soon enough, they were beyond the walls of Iwa and headed back towards Konoha.

"I'll take you guys to the border. You can get back yourselves from there, un."

The other two ninja nodded but said nothing. For a little while, the three walked in silence. Suddenly, Deidara stopped.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Crap, ninja is what, un."

Sakura looked wide-eyed then suddenly noticed the ninja herself.

"What kind?" Sasuke asked.

"Probably not more than jounin…ugh, you guys shouldn't be seen messing in this. It wouldn't go over well. I'll handle it, un."

"Hey! Are you saying we're not capable?" Sakura demanded.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"He's right Sakura. They're going to ask us what we're doing here with an Akatsuki if they find us. It's better to stay out of it."

Sakura made a face.

"Fine."

"I'll be right back, un."

With that he dashed off in the direction the ninja were coming from.

Upon reaching the area the ninja were in he unmasked his chakra so they would find him.

_Alright, nice and quick here. They're not more than a few jounin; you can handle them. _

The ninja came out and Deidara stared in shock.

"Well, the brat returns. You've got guts coming back around here kid."

There was the one person who had made his life a living nightmare. His uncle.

He pulled out a kunai.

"What? Not gonna run away? You idiot."

"Shut up, un!"

"Hmph, gotten a little confident in the years you've been away?"

Two jounin ran up to attack Deidara. He quickly dispatched of both of them, knocking them out. Now there was just him and his uncle. Deidara knew for a fact that he was stronger than the man. That he could beat him physically. But he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to do it for real.

The man took a step closer while Deidara took a step back.

_Don't back down idiot! Fight him!_

His uncle smirked.

"Heh, I thought you were confident but you're still the same scared, weak little brat as you were when you left. This is gonna be fun."

In a moment, the man was upon him, thrusting a small sword towards him. Deidara managed to dodge just in time.

"Hm, well maybe you learned something."

He felt his body shaking. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. His uncle came at him again.

They went through a few rounds like this, his uncle always the attacker and Deidara always dodging in the nick of time. Finally, the man managed to strike a blow through his still healing shoulder.

Deidara hissed in pain and moved out of the way just in time to avoid another attack. He clutched at his shoulder and felt the old wound reopening as blood poured down his arm. The man came at him again and this time landed a kick to his midsection, sending him flying into one of the rocks. He grunted in pain.

He could get up. He could fight. He could. And yet he couldn't. There was something holding him back. His uncle was there again, just as he got up. The man punched the blonde in the face this time causing his head to collide with a sharp edge on one of the stones and collapse. As he struggled for consciousness he thought he could vaguely make out more figures in the background but wasn't sure. Slowly, the world blurred to black.

…

….

…..

…

….

…

…..

….

…

"_Deidara…"_

_Oh what is that? Owww….my head…_

"_Deidara, wake up…"_

_Who…_

"_Wake up…"_

_I'm trying_

"_Come on, just open your eyes"_

_But it hurts_

"_Please Deidara, wake up"_

_It hurts so much…_

"_Just a little Deidara, come on, wake up"_

_Ohhh…._

Blearily, Deidara opened his eyes and moaned in pain. His head was pounding and his shoulder burned worse than ever. He started to close his eyes again. He just wanted to sleep.

"No, don't go back to sleep, not yet. Come on Deidara, stay awake."

Deidara opened his eyes again. He knew this person…

"I-Itachi…?" He rasped out. He must have sounded awful.

"Shh, don't talk too much. Just try and stay awake."

He moaned.

"But I'm…so…tired…un…"

"Don't go to sleep. Not yet."

Itachi reached over and placed something cool on his forehead. It relieved the pain a bit but everything still hurt so much.

"What…"

"I was passing through and saw you unconscious, being attacked by one of the Iwa jounin. I scared him off. We're in one of my hiding places. I sent Sasuke and Sakura back to Konoha."

"Oh…"

"Hn. Deidara, look at me." The blonde turned his head a bit. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Deidara blinked a couple of times. Why was Itachi asking him a question like that?

"Um…I don't…I mean…four, un?"

Itachi put his hand down and frowned.

"Do you feel dizzy at all?"

"Y-yes…"

A wave of nausea passed over him and he moaned.

"I-Itachi…"

"Yes?"

"I'm…ugh…gonna be sick…un…"

Itachi's eyes widened a bit and he pulled out a bucket from somewhere as he helped Deidara lean over while the blonde vomited up his stomach's contents. Five minutes later, he laid the blonde back down who was now panting a bit.

Deidara closed his eyes for a moment as he heard Itachi leave the room. He was back soon though as Deidara heard him come and sit back down.

"Not yet Deidara, open your eyes."

Deidara moaned again.

"B-but…ugh…"

"I know you're tired. I know it hurts. Just a little more."

Deidara opened his eyes again and saw Itachi over him with a glass of something.

"Here" The Uchiha helped the blonde sit up and pressed a glass to his lips. Slowly, Deidara drank the water Itachi gave him. Itachi then once again laid the blonde back down and pressed the cool cloth to his head.

"You're suffering from a severe concussion. Also, the injury on your shoulder is very bad."

"Ugh…what 'bout…'katsuki…un…"

_Damnit I can't even speak straight! Ahh...oww…my head…_

"Don't worry about them for now. They expected you to take a couple more days anyways."

Deidara felt his eyes slowly closing. No matter what Itachi said, he didn't think he could stay awake much longer.

"_Deidara"_

_Doesn't he know?_

"_Deidara…don't fall asleep"_

_But it hurts…_

"…_Dei…don't…up…"_

_Ohhhhhh_

"…_co…ju…sleep…"_

Slowly his eyes closed as the blackness pulled him in.

* * *

Itachi blinked as the blonde boy fell into unconsciousness. He needed Deidara to stay awake until he could finish testing him. This wasn't good. Deidara couldn't even stay up for fifteen minutes.

He didn't have to ask who did this to the blonde. He knew. Deidara had told him all about it on the same day he decided to offer to let the blonde help him. He always had liked the kid. While he was in Akatsuki the blonde had reminded him of Sasuke and now he was like a second brother to the Uchiha. And Itachi hated seeing his brothers hurt.

He pressed the cloth against Deidara's pale forehead. The blonde was sleeping fitfully. He wished there was some way to ease the boy's pain but unfortunately he was not a medic. Too bad he sent Sakura back. But she needed to go; she couldn't stay and help. Yes, he had found out about the happenings with the Hokage. Sasuke told him. And to be honest, he wasn't altogether surprised. He would have liked to keep things a secret a little longer but that wasn't really possible. Somewhere they were going to have to give.

Deidara moaned and Itachi turned his attention back to the blonde.

"Just wake up soon Deidara." He muttered to himself. "You've got to get through this."

* * *

**A/N: Hooray for Itachi's part at the end 8D I've never written in Itachi's POV before so I hope I didn't mess it up...but, isn't Itachi so sweet? He's probably like, my second favorite Akatsuki next to Deidara. Him or Sasori. I can't decide. **

**A big thank you to everyone who reviews and supports this! I'm forever grateful!**

**Happy New Year everyone! Hope your 2013 is awesome! n_n**


	13. Running

**A/N: Welp, here's the next chapter everyone! I think this one is a bit emotional...and I REALLY hope I didn't mess up the characters (specifically Deidara) too much because of it. But, you know, everyone's human so I think it's right to show this side...I just hope I didn't do anything bad. Because I tried to keep them in character...I really did but sometimes things get out of hand. So I'm sorry if any of them are OOC or acting wimpy or whatever! That certainly wasn't my intent. **

**Anyways, not much else to say about the chapter besides that. I'd say I feel the end may be in sight but I don't know! I never know what I'm even going to really write for a chapter until I start writing! I mean, I have the general idea but I oftentimes just let my mind take over. I'm random like that! And I can't plan ahead. At all. So...yeah...I think I may end this fic within the next five chapters but that is in no way a guarantee. I just don't have a ton of inspiration for this fic beyond chapter 14 yet. But it will probably come to me so I wouldn't worry! I think it might be mostly because I'm focusing a lot more on my other fic, Mission Impossible right now. That and the fact that there's this little problem. And it's name is MidTerms. I dislike Mid Terms. I dislike them a lot. **

**Enough chatter! Hope you enjoy the chapter and hope I didn't mess it up!**

**Do I even have to say this? I DON'T OWN NARUTO! If I did, the canon story would be way different. Waaay different. -.-**

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Running**

* * *

Deidara's eyes snapped open as he shot up from the bed he was lying on.

_Where…where am I?_

"Gah!"

He suddenly clutched at his head in pain. The world seemed to be spinning around him.

_What's this? Bandages? Am I…hurt?_

He let himself back down on the bed. He was panting. His left shoulder throbbed with a dull pain.

_What happened?_

He stared up at the plain white ceiling. He honestly couldn't remember.

_What was I doing?_

Everything was a blur. He tried to think but it was as if his mind was lost in a maze of foggy memories. He vaguely remembered something about Iwa. Something to do with Akatsuki there, he wasn't sure what. But what had happened? He didn't know. The last thing he clearly remembered was leaving Konoha with, who? Somebody he knew, he was certain.

He looked around the room. Nothing seemed familiar. It frightened him slightly. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know how he got there, and he didn't know what happened. Slowly, he sat up again. His head still hurt but it felt the same lying down as it did sitting up. The room didn't seem to be spinning anymore.

He tried to get up but for some reason his balance was off. He had the sensation of falling and quickly grabbed the side of the bed. He sat back down. For a minute, he closed his eyes and tried to remember everything. But nothing came. His head was pounding. He wanted something to take away the intense pain. It hurt so much.

He got up again and breathed out a sigh of relief as his sense of balance seemed to have returned, at least for the time being. He carefully made his way to the door. It opened into a short hall. He looked down it but could see nothing. Silently, he exited the room closing the door softly behind him. He somehow found himself in a room with a stove, a table and a few chairs.

_Must be the kitchen?_

"You're up? I told you not to try getting out of bed."

There was a voice behind him. He thought he should know this voice for some reason. He turned to face the other person. This person looked so familiar. Did he know them?

"Deidara?"

Ah yes, he knew this person. Itachi, that was his name, wasn't it? He worked for Akatsuki. No, that was wrong, he used to. That's right, now he remembered.

"I, um…I was…"

What _was _he doing? He was so confused.

"Sit down at least."

Itachi took a step towards him. His eyes widened as something flashed through his mind and he took a step back. He didn't know why. He shouldn't be afraid of this person. What was he doing?

Itachi saw the look of confusion and slight fear in the blonde's blue eyes and stopped.

"It's alright Deidara, sit down."

Now he just stared blankly at the other. What was he supposed to be doing? Itachi just said something to him but he was thinking about something else. He didn't remember.

"Please Deidara, sit."

Sit. Oh right. That's what Itachi wanted him to do. Why hadn't he said so earlier?

"Deidara?"

Slowly, he took a seat at the table. Itachi sat across from him. He blinked a few times. He didn't remember what he was supposed to be doing.

"How are you feeling?"

How was he feeling? He was fine, right? For some reason his head hurt and his shoulder too, but he was fine. It wasn't too bad now that he thought about it. Couldn't Itachi see that?

"Deidara? Are you alright?"

Of course he was. What a question to ask. He just had a headache for some reason. Maybe he should go back to sleep.

"Deidara?"

What? What was he asking? He hadn't heard the question.

"Are you alright?"

Oh, that question. Now he remembered.

"I'm…fine….un…" He mumbled.

Itachi gave him a weird sort of look. What was that for? What did he do?

"Do you want anything?"

Suddenly, he felt tired. Why would he want anything? He was fine. At least, he thought he was. His stomach churned and he moaned, leaning his head against the table.

"Deidara?"

Itachi's voice sounded so far away.

"_Deidara? Can you hear me?"_

Like in a dream. He felt so tired.

"_Deidara?"_

* * *

"Owww…."

Deidara groaned in pain and rolled over on his side to try and get back to sleep. No such luck. His eyes opened and he saw Itachi sitting by the bed looking him over.

"You're awake." Itachi stated quietly.

He pressed a damp cloth to Deidara's forehead. Deidara closed his eyes a moment, enjoying the soothing touch that relieved some of the pain. He opened his eyes again and looked up at Itachi.

"Itachi?"

Was it just him or did his voice sound off?

"Yes?"

"What's going on, un?"

"You don't remember?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"No"

"What do you remember?"

Deidara thought for a moment.

"Um, the last thing I can think of is leaving Konoha with Sasuke and Sakura to go on some mission…for Akatsuki I think. I think it had something to do with Iwa…I can't remember. What happened, un?"

"That's all? Nothing more?"

"I can remember things before that but nothing after. Why does my head hurt, un?"

Itachi sighed.

"Well, you did have a mission from Akatsuki to go to Iwa and bring back a scroll. I don't know all the details that went on during that, I wasn't there. On your way back you got into a battle with a few of the Iwa jounin. Your shoulder was hurt again and you must have hit your head on something very hard since you have a severe concussion. I was passing through and saw you unconscious so I brought you here. Sasuke and Sakura went back."

Deidara blinked a few times. Yes, he vaguely remembered something along those lines happening. It made sense. But most everything was a blur. Like a dream one can recollect upon awakening but that slowly fades away as time passes. Still, he was confused about something.

"Only jounin? How many, un?"

"Just three."

"Only three jounin? Are you sure? I mean, I know I can handle the Iwa jounin, un."

"Yes, there were only three. But one of them…was, special."

What did Itachi mean by "special?"

"Special, un?"

Itachi ran a hand through his hair.

"Deidara, he was, someone you know. Someone you know well."

Deidara thought for a moment before it clicked.

"Oh…him…" He said softly.

_Damnit! Why am I so weak? He would have killed me if Itachi hadn't come! This is pathetic…_

Itachi nodded.

"Well, I believe the worst of your symptoms are past. You'll be in pain but there's nothing much to do about that right now. I'll see if I can find something to relieve some of it a little later. The best thing to do is to rest."

"Itachi?"

"Yes?"

"Why am I so weak? After all these years…you'd think something would have changed by now, un."

"You're not weak."

"I let him beat me. Again, un."

"That-"

"I can still barely fight him, un."

"Forget about it for now. Just rest. Alright?"

Deidara nodded slowly. Why was he saying this? It wasn't like Itachi cared. Nobody could ever care about him. No, he simply served their purposes for whatever. That was the only reason Itachi was still here. He needed Deidara.

Itachi let the damp cloth rest on Deidara's forehead and pulled the blankets up around the blonde.

"Do you want me to get you anything else?"

"No…I'm fine, un."

"Hn."

Itachi got up.

"I'll be back in a few hours. Try to rest."

* * *

Deidara sighed wistfully as he ran back to Akatsuki. Sometimes he wished he could just trust someone. Truly _trust_ someone. But he knew the world didn't work that way. Sometimes he wished he could allow himself to think Itachi cared. But he couldn't do that. No, the last time he allowed himself to think that someone actually _cared_ ended in disaster. It was dangerous to think that way.

Even if Itachi really did care, he couldn't allow the Uchiha to do it. If he did, Itachi would just die, like the only other people who ever truly cared. It was how life worked. There was nothing fair about it. No, he couldn't allow himself to think that way or to let others come too close to him. He was simply doing this to help them. It wasn't for his sake. It was for theirs, for all the people who would be hurt by Akatsuki, for his village…that's why he did it. Maybe, just maybe, it would repay for all the things he did while in Akatsuki. He could hope.

All too soon he reached Ame. He really was not looking forward to meeting with the Akatsuki leaders. He still didn't remember much of what happened in Iwa but he did know that he never accomplished what he was supposed to do. Not remembering what happened wasn't helping him come up with a story. Also, he knew he still had to deal with whatever Hidan and Kakuzu had told them from the time the two found him with the Hokage. And, he was sure he was at least a day or two late in returning, thanks to his little battle with his uncle.

He stood outside the Akatsuki base, wanting to get it over with but not daring to go inside. He didn't know what to say. He was totally unprepared. And he couldn't think. If only he could remember what had happened then he might be able to come up with a better story. But his mind only drew a blank. Instead, he only stood there, trying to think of what to say as the downpour of rain drenched him completely.

Sighing, he took a step inside. He was going to have to do it sooner or later. Delaying things would only cause more issues. He needed to get this over with. Still, he wandered a bit through the various halls in the hideout. He didn't really want to go straight to Pein or Tobi. Someone came down the hall.

_Damnit! Now I have to deal with it…ugh…_

"Oh, Deidara, you're back."

It was only Konan. Deidara breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, she didn't make him so anxious.

"Um, yeah"

"You're soaked." She sighed. "Don't you ever think to try and keep yourself dry? Oh, never mind that for now. Go dry yourself off and relax a bit. I'm sure your mission was…rough."

She smiled lightly at this as if she knew. Maybe she did.

"I'll come get you a little later for the report."

"Um, thanks Konan-sama, un."

She only nodded. He started off down the hall again.

True to her word, Konan let him be for an hour or so before coming to bring him to Pein and Tobi. It had come all too soon in his opinion but at least he'd been able to gather some thoughts before he had to see the Akatsuki leaders.

Konan lead him into a large, dark room. Immediately he sensed the presence of two other powerful ninja already there. They were waiting for him. Both of them. This, wasn't good. It had always before been either Tobi or Pein. Not both. Not like this. Konan entered the room and made her way over to one of the corners but Deidara lingered by the entrance. Tobi spoke first.

"Well, don't be shy Deidara. We don't have all day."

He made his way into the room. He could feel everyone watching him. He didn't like it.

"So? Did you do it?" Of course this was Tobi.

Deidara kept his eyes downcast.

"No. I was, unable to get the information, un."

"Really now? Why would that be?"

"I…um…"

"You, um, what? What is it?" Tobi asked irritably.

He cleared his throat. He could only hope Tobi would buy his excuse.

"It was more heavily guarded than anticipated. I barely got out, un."

"I'm sure." The masked nin stated sarcastically. Deidara knew Tobi didn't believe him.

"Deidara," This was Pein now, "You've failed two missions in a row. Is something going on?"

"Yes Deidara, tell us, is there something going on?" Tobi echoed.

"Why would you think that, un?"

"It's just so unlike you to fail a mission. Never mind two in a row." Tobi stated.

"There's nothing…"

Deidara could feel Tobi and Pein exchanging a glance. Tobi began circling the blonde.

"What happened in Iwa, Deidara? Why didn't you come back with the scroll?"

"I…I just…"

"For goodness' sake, leave the kid alone about that Tobi. He was already forced to go back to his village."

Konan. Deidara was so grateful to her in that one moment. At the very least she bought him time.

"So? You're telling me he's incapable, _Konan_? I didn't ask for your opinion on the matter. Deidara! Answer the question!"

"I just…I didn't do it, un."

"And why not?"

"Because…I couldn't…."

In an instant, Tobi punched him in the face causing his head to snap to the side. He bit down on his tongue and tasted blood.

"You 'couldn't' eh? You're telling me that your old village, one you left years ago, is more important to you than Akatsuki? What the hell could you be thinking?"

He felt another blow to the side of his face. It would be useless to try and fight back against Tobi. At least, if he wanted to live. This, he knew.

"Honestly Deidara?" That was Pein. Just great. Now he had both of them mad at him.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't, un."

"Shut up. I didn't tell you to talk."

Tobi punched him again. This time he was sure he felt his jaw crack with the impact.

"Tobi, is this really necessary?"

"Shut up Konan. You're not a part of this."

He rubbed his now aching jaw.

"I'm sorry, alright? I don't know what more to say, un."

"I still didn't tell you to talk."

This time Tobi knocked him to the ground.

"Tobi! Cut this out! Pein! Are you just going to let him do that?"

"Konan, shut up." Tobi stated in a warning voice.

"What is your reason for failing the mission?" Pein asked.

"I already told you guys! I just couldn't do it, alright? Do whatever the hell you want to me but that's all there is to it, un!"

Tobi kicked him in the ribs.

"Stop this insolence. That isn't an answer and you know it. That was a very important scroll, Deidara. There was a greater reason than you 'just couldn't do it.' Oh, and by the way, what were you doing at that teashop with the Hokage?"

_Crap. I have to deal with that now too?_

"You were doing what?" Pein asked.

"I don't know what you mean, un!"

Tobi kicked him again.

"Don't try that innocent act with me! You may have some fooled but I know the truth. _What were you doing_?"

"Look, I stopped for a break is all. If the Hokage was there then I didn't know it, un!"

Tobi made a move to kick him again but this time he wouldn't stand for it. He didn't care if it got him in trouble. He wasn't going to take any more from Tobi.

Quickly, he blocked, then sprang up and launched a punch towards Tobi. The masked ninja was caught off guard by the sudden retaliation and Deidara's fist connected with his body, knocking Tobi back a bit.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that."

Before Deidara could even think Tobi was behind him, knocking him into a wall and punching him repeatedly.

"Tobi! Stop this at once!"

"Konan…"

"Pein! _Do_ something about this!"

"Konan…"

"Oh, SHUT UP! TOBI!"

Tobi didn't stop his attack.

"Konan, you must learn that he needs to be punished."

"For what? His mission was hard enough for him! I don't see why you didn't send someone else or at least someone with him if you were so concerned about its success! This is a failure on our part. Let him go!"

Tobi ignored her.

"PEIN!"

"Konan…Tobi is right, this was his mission and-"

"You people sicken me!"

All of sudden Deidara felt Tobi drop him. He quickly curled himself into a tight ball. His whole body hurt now and he couldn't get the vision of his uncle beating him out of his mind. He barely heard what was said.

"Konan, this is none of your business."

"Then why am I here? He's just a kid, leave him alone!"

"He failed."

"The mission was difficult for him! He had to go back and face who knows what in his home village! And he didn't even recover from his last mission completely."

"Fine. You take care of him then. But I'm still not finished."

Deidara thought he heard Tobi leave.

"Konan…I…"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear anything from _you_. I don't understand how you could just let him do that!"

"Konan, you know how I feel."

"Then stand up for yourself damnit."

"Konan…"

"Just get out."

Someone crossed the floor and left the room. Deidara heard someone approaching him. He wrapped his arms around himself tighter.

"Deidara? It's alright now."

Konan's gentle voice spoke to him. She put a hand on his shoulder. He shuddered a bit.

"Oh dear…come on Deidara."

Slowly, very slowly, he uncurled himself and started sitting up. He doubled over and gasped as pain ripped through his stomach.

"Alright, it's alright. Shh."

He couldn't forget it now. Tobi reminded the blonde so much of _him_. It was tearing him up.

"K-konan-sama?"

"Shh. It's alright." She soothed.

He shook his head. He barely felt the physical pain anymore. He shook with memories. He closed his eyes, wanting to forget it all. Suddenly, her arms were around him. He couldn't explain it. He didn't remember the last time someone had done something like that for him. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so safe. He shook in her arms.

"Konan-sama…it's awful…un…"

He didn't know why he said it. Or even what he was saying to her. He wanted to tell her everything. Wanted to explain himself. But it was as if she understood.

"It's alright Deidara. It's alright. Shh. Shh…"

* * *

Konan felt the blonde boy shaking in her arms. He was…scared. She wanted nothing more than to comfort him at that moment. He was only a kid. She knew he must not have any family. Or any family that cared. In that moment she felt like his mother.

She wanted to look at his physical injuries but she knew then that the mental and emotional wounds were the ones that needed more immediate attention. She didn't know what had happened in Iwa. She didn't know the kid's history. How could she? But she assumed it wasn't anything good. Tobi may have been a creep but just Tobi wouldn't be enough to trigger something like this with Deidara. No, this was something more.

She felt Deidara lean into her arms a bit so that his head now rested on her shoulder. She heard his shaky breathing and looked down. His eyes were staring ahead, not looking at anything in particular, but they were wide. She moved one of her hands to press his head closer to her.

"It's alright"

She tried to soothe him. She didn't know what else to say. Maybe it wasn't alright. But she had to say something. She began stroking his head a bit in hopes to calm him down some more but stopped when she felt something. She frowned. He had a pretty large bruise on one side of his head. She gently pressed down a bit on it and could feel the blonde wince at her touch.

"Deidara…were you injured on that mission?"

He nodded slowly.

"Yeah…"

"You…hit your head…"

"Yeah…"

"Why didn't you tell them?"

"They wouldn't have cared, un."

Well, Tobi probably wouldn't have. And Nagato, well, she wasn't sure what Nagato thought anymore. He'd been surprising her lately. In a bad way.

"What happened?"

"I…ran into someone…" He said softly.

She suddenly felt him shiver in her arms. Another question plagued her mind. The injury he had seemed to have been pretty bad. But he made it back fine, like nothing had happened. She could tell he must have received it at least a few days ago, almost a week probably. So, he must have stopped for a while then? But did he take care of himself? Would he be capable of that with such a head injury? Or did someone find him and out of the goodness of their hearts take care of him? But she didn't want to ask. He seemed upset enough already.

"I knew him…un…"

Was he still talking about how he was injured? He was just volunteering information to her? But she wouldn't stop him.

"I knew him…" He repeated. "But he hates me. He's my uncle you know. I couldn't fight him. I mean, I could, but I couldn't. But he hates me. He wants me dead. He always wanted me dead. He hated that he had to watch me because my mother died. He hated my mother, un."

She felt him shaking a bit more. This whole revelation was new to her. No one in Akatsuki really knew much about Deidara. No one, except maybe Nagato who held a few secret files on each of the members. Deidara kept his past secret. She felt sorry for him. She knew what it was like to have no one care about you.

"I'm sorry…"

He closed his eyes.

"I'm so tired…un…"

She nodded.

"Let's get you to bed then."

She helped him up and led him to his room. Within minutes he was fast asleep.

_Just sleep Deidara. No one else in this organization may care, but I will. Poor kid. Nagato is certainly going to have to explain himself. _

She closed the door softly behind her as she let herself out into the hallway.

She found Nagato in his office, looking over some papers for a mission or something along those lines. She entered silently and stood in front of his desk, arms crossed and eyes cold as she waited for him to notice her.

"What, Konan?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Nagato. You know 'what.'"

"Just let it go Konan. Honestly."

"Nagato! Do you even hear yourself? Were you even in the same room I was just in? Did you not see what happened?"

"Tobi has his reasons I'm sure."

"I don't care what his reasons are! Since when did we resort to beating up our own members? And he's not more than a child."

"Even children grow up sometime."

Konan glared icy daggers at the man in front of her.

"It doesn't matter. Nagato, you once told me, years ago, that you only forced the boy into Akatsuki because he wouldn't make it on his own. He was hunted by too many, you said. Even with his skills he wouldn't last, you said. So you sent Itachi to make sure he came here. You said he'd be safe here."

"He reminded you of us, didn't he? Except he had no one at all. You knew something about his history, didn't you? And Sasori needed a new partner. It was perfect. But Tobi wasn't so sure. Yet you convinced him. You convinced him to let the kid stay. What has changed?"

"He's broken, Nagato. The kid is broken. He's torn up from the inside out. You said he would be safe here; do you intend to change your word? He never liked it here. He didn't understand it. He always wanted to go home. You knew this. But you knew he couldn't go back. Then all of a sudden you send him off on a mission to the very place that holds such awful memories for him. Don't look at me like that. He told me some."

"Now you and Tobi actually expected him to come back with something that would betray his village? He never wanted to leave, Nagato. I may not know much but I know that. What has Akatsuki given him that he should give us his total allegiance? What have we done for him? You say we helped, but have we? He never knew. He never liked being here. It doesn't help if you don't know. How do you know he wouldn't have been fine on his own?"

Konan stopped. Her amber eyes blazed with a certain fire, a passion. Yes, she remembered when they had recruited Deidara. She had been against it, like Tobi. It was the one thing they had agreed on. But Nagato had promised her they would make sure the kid was fine. She had told him she would never let him forget it. And she didn't break her word.

Nagato stopped writing in his papers and pushed them aside, leaning back in his chair. Finally, his gaze met Konan's, ringed eyes staring into her burning amber ones.

"I can't control what Tobi does." He stated evenly.

"You could _at least_ stand up for Deidara! Instead you take Tobi's side. Do you no longer have any use for him? Was he like a toy to you? Was that it? He amused you for a certain time; now you're tossing him aside for something new? I thought I knew you better Nagato."

"You know we can still use him."

"Ah, so there it is. He's only a tool. You said we'd be giving him refuge, something no one else would do. But you're no better than the other people who used him before you. Tobi has really messed you up." She said bitterly.

"It's not-"

"Not what? What isn't it, Nagato? Is it for 'Akatsuki's goals?' Don't give me that shit. What good are our goals of peace and security when we can't even get along with our own members or keep them safe? To what end will this go to?"

"Konan…"

She reached over and slapped him. _Hard._

"I'm sick of listening to your excuses."

She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, cloak flying behind her. This had gone on for far too long and she refused to take part in it. She had questioned Akatsuki's motives before. Not everything they did actually sat well with her. But when it came down to something like this, this is where she drew the line. Deidara was just so young. He was their youngest member. And it was all their fault that he was there today.

She didn't stop at Nagato. No. As much as she might have feared Tobi in the past, she was angry now. Dare he hurt one of _her_ family members? Not that she thought of every member in the Akatsuki as her family; some had been less than desirable. But she'd always had a soft spot for Deidara. She hadn't known him much at all before some of the recent incidents, in fact, she had barely seen him. But she heard about him. She knew about him. And though she had never been able to really do anything, she always knew about his missions.

She remembered when she had first seen him, the day Nagato introduced the boy to the rest of the Akatsuki. Yes, that day where Deidara had so defiantly stated that he would never truly be an Akatsuki. How could she forget? Most everyone had just ignored him. After all, he was only a child. A "brat" as Sasori had called him. But she knew Sasori always meant well, no matter what the puppet master had said. She remembered making sure of that by threatening to tear Sasori apart if anything should happen to the young blonde. Yes, even on that first day, there was something she had liked about him. And though she hadn't known him, there was something that she just felt sorry for about him.

Threats were hardly needed with Sasori though. Sasori shared her sentiments, even if he didn't show it. Konan thought he actually rather liked the blonde, for all his complaining. But Sasori had died. She wondered now how Deidara must have felt about that. Sasori never really showed _outwardly_ that he cared, but Deidara had a certain attachment to the puppeteer nonetheless. Sasori was his "danna" and she wondered if the blonde had seen him as a sort of parent like figure. Tobi had become his partner after that. Nagato and Tobi just decided it. After all, it was before Tobi had revealed himself as one of Akatsuki's leaders. She wondered just what kind of a partner Tobi had been. Tobi wasn't one she could keep tabs on, like she could with Sasori.

Rounding the corner, she burst into Tobi's office.

"I know what you want and I don't have time for you."

"Tobi." Her tone conveyed that it was not up for debate.

"Fine. Spit it out. I have better things to do."

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you? Why must you pick on him? You never liked him ever since he set foot in this organization; what is _wrong_?"

"Konan. Let me explain something to you. You're right, I never liked the kid. He bothers me beyond belief. I don't think he's right for this organization. He doesn't belong here. You know this, I know you do. And you can't protect him, Konan. You can't help him in this world. This world is full of lies. The boy doesn't understand though. He knows well enough the truth of the world; that's not what I mean. He doesn't believe in what we're doing. I was partnered with him. I know. I had this suspicion from when he was first recruited but he was useful and Nagato wanted him for whatever dumb reasons he had. Konan, he's working against us. He's a traitor. Even if he wasn't, you know he couldn't care less about Akatsuki."

"So why not just leave him out of everything you do then?"

"Because we can't have people being useless around here, now can we? And, you don't want me to let him go. You know he'll have to die then. But maybe that's his fate anyways. Life's just not fair, it never is. You can't help him and you're better off not trying. No, but once we create our new world, then, yes then you will be able to give him everything you want. Forget about the boy for now. It won't matter once we are done anyways."

"How can you say that? We're just going to let him suffer until then? I thought we were supposed to be helping people out of this, not pushing them into it."

"This world is made of suffering, Konan. No one can escape it and some have more than others. Deidara has his lot just like the rest of us. It does no good to worry about something you cannot change."

Tobi turned back to whatever he was doing before and Konan knew the discussion was over. She wouldn't get any more out of him. And Tobi made sense, in a way. Still, she didn't see what this had to do with anything.

Tobi said Deidara was a traitor. He said the blonde was working against them. But he had given no proof. She'd have to talk to Deidara more. Maybe later though. The blonde was sleeping now. But Tobi's words scared her. She would go see the kid in a little bit. But he would be hungry when he woke up, wouldn't he? She wandered off to the kitchen. She'd make him some food then go see him.

* * *

After Konan had left Nagato had tried to get back to his work. Tried, and failed. Konan's words had more of an effect on him than she knew. He sighed and got up. He needed to see the kid now.

It wasn't that he didn't care it was just, well, Tobi. Tobi was fairly threatening. Konan didn't seem to understand. And Deidara _had_ failed twice in a row. Though Nagato silently agreed with Konan that the most recent mission hadn't been the best one for the blonde.

Eventually, he came to the youngest Akatsuki member's room. He thought about just walking in but though he was the Akatsuki leader he felt like he at least owed the kid the decency of knocking. Especially since earlier that day. He rapped on the door a few times.

"Deidara? Can I come in?"

He got no reply. He suddenly noticed that the door was slightly ajar. He pushed it the rest of the way open and walked into the room. His ringed eyes fell on the figure of his subordinate sleeping rather fitfully. He remembered what Konan had said. Broken, she called him. Deidara was strong but everyone had their breaking point.

He sighed and turned to leave. He didn't know what to do anymore. He didn't rightly agree with everything Tobi was up to lately, but what else could he do? Akatsuki must accomplish its goal; surely Konan could see that. He shook his head. She would come around. And Deidara would be just fine. They would see. Yes, they would see, eventually.

* * *

Deidara awoke, drenched in sweat and gasping for air. He sat upright and looked around.

_Just a dream. Calm down, just a dream._

His head hurt again. He wished he had taken some of the medicine Itachi had given him before he left now. The pain was awful.

He remembered what happened with Konan. Why had he done that? He wasn't supposed to. He couldn't let people come close to him. It only ended up with someone getting hurt. But she had been so comforting. Somehow, she had known just what to do. And now, as stupid as it sounded, he wanted her to do it again. He wanted her to chase away the nightmares, he wanted her to soothe his pain. He just wanted to be like a little child and hide in her arms. He was done with this. No, he couldn't allow thoughts like that. He mustn't.

Perhaps it would be best to just leave Akatsuki. Tobi didn't want him anyways. It would mess up Itachi's plan, but to hell with all that. He would leave, yes, he would go far away. Someplace very far from all of the five nations. He would go someplace he couldn't hurt or be hurt. In the end, nobody would want him anyways, no matter how much they thought they cared or how much _he_ thought they cared. They'd regret it all later when someone close to them was hurt or killed because of him. And _he_ might be hurt if _they_ were killed. He wasn't sure he could take any more of it.

None of them understood anyways. How could they unless they lived through it? How could they understand? And he didn't want them to be able to. No, he should go.

He got up. His head was aching but he ignored the pain to the best of his abilities. His shoulder hurt too but he ignored that as well. Quickly, he threw together some things he would need. He pulled out an old gray-ish cloak from somewhere. He wouldn't use the Akatsuki one. He wouldn't need it. Not where he was going. He took his ring off too and finally looked the room over once more.

He felt bad about leaving like this, no warning. He felt bad for letting Itachi down, for letting Konoha down, for letting Iwa down. He didn't want to but it was how things were going to have to be. This couldn't continue. He just couldn't do it. He was growing all too attached to these people. The last person he had been so attached to was Sasori. And look what happened. The puppet master was dead now, just like everything he had ever cared about. And it was all his fault. If he had been smarter he could have gotten back in time to help his partner. But he didn't.

The one thing he could count on in life was his art. And even that was as short lived as a flash of lightening. It served as a reminder; noting ever lasted. Nothing ever would. The thing to do was enjoy what you had when you had it. Because you never knew when it was going to die. And he had enjoyed it. He had enjoyed very much. But now it was time to kill any bonds that were beginning to take root. He couldn't let others get hurt for his sake. It wasn't fair.

Quietly, he slipped out the window and into the night.

_I'm sorry everyone…forgive me…_

* * *

**A/N: Done! Not too bad I hope...DEIDARA'S RUNNING AWAY! WHAT'S HE DOING? Ehum, I'll give you a hint, there will be lots more Itachi next chapter. That's all I'm gonna say for now. Of course, I don't really know how things are going to work out next chapter, but I have the ideas running rampant through my brain. I know..enough...*rubs hands together evilly***_  
_

**Oh, and I realized something! This fic is half a year old! I can't believe I've been writing this for so long! Well, here's to many more chapters! And a big THANKS goes out to all my reviewers! This fic has only come this far because of you wonderful people! Have an interwebz cookie :3**


	14. Truth Hurts

**A/N: AI! SOWEE FOR THE LONG WAIT! Really..I am...but, life happens. So I made this chapter a little longer than normal to hopefully make up for it! And, this chapter probably gets kinda weird and out of hand at parts. Like the parts that I really didn't know how to write were just...kinda...I did what my wild imagination thought up at the moment. :P**

**There might be a bit of OOC-ness but honestly...at this point I don't care...I'm just glad to be getting the chapter up and hope that it's not total crap. I have a feeling this fic might be getting finished soon...especially since I want to concentrate more on my other one and start on some new ideas I've been thinking of. But anyways, yea, sorry for the wait and please enjoy the chapter; hope it doesn't suck!**

**Also, I know that it's past Valentine's day but I have an Akatsuki special (much like my Halloween special) that will be coming out either today or tomorrow...whenever I can get around to finish the last part and uploading it.**

**I don't own the characters in the fic. **

* * *

_**These Times that Change**_

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Truth Hurts**

* * *

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. When had life become so _complicated_? Sighing again, she opened her eyes and leaned back against the tree she was sitting in, frowning and looking out through the village. Everything had seemed so simple before this whole _situation_ started up. At least, fairly simple. Sure, they were at war with Akatsuki and all that, but honestly things hadn't changed all that much. So there were more missions; what of it? This "war" hadn't done much except cause a temporary truce between the five nations. Of course, not like she had been out to see any real battles but again, there weren't that many to be had. They were _ninja_; their battles weren't so open and never really consisted of hundreds of people at one time. Life had pretty much been normal since the war started.

Then, that _Akatsuki_ had to come and change things. She wasn't so sure how to feel about him. On one hand he was an S-class criminal, wanted by all the nations for multiple offenses, and, he was the one who kidnapped Gaara. On the other hand, Sasuke had been an S-class criminal at one point, and there was something different about the blonde. His story, yes, he couldn't have been making that up. He would have had to be a damn good liar to put on an act like that. His actions too, spoke for him. Yet, she was unsure.

She didn't know what to make of it all. She didn't particularly like the ex-Iwa nin but she found him, interesting, for whatever reason. He had been hurt badly by many people and yet he wasn't out on some sort of vendetta. But he wasn't fine like he may have wanted everyone to believe either. The time she had spent on that mission with him proved it. Still, he had managed to overlook it or forget it for so long. Just how, exactly, was the question. Then again, what other choice did he really have? He had been strong but even the strongest person falls sometimes.

She shook her head, why did she _care?_ She barely knew him; what did it matter to her? Yes, he had suffered but so had many others. He was a criminal, a rogue ninja, how did she know he was telling the full truth? She didn't doubt his personal story, just the leaving part. How did she know he wasn't making that part up?

She should forget about him. Except, she couldn't. She was still wondering what happened on their way back. Deidara had never come back after going to take care of the ninja that were following them. No, it had been Itachi who told them to go back to Konoha. He had talked to Sasuke a bit in a conversation that she wasn't a part of and then told them to leave. She assumed he must have talked to Deidara but she didn't know.

She didn't particularly like or trust Itachi either. She knew what had happened, or what everyone had said happened. It had been Danzo controlling Itachi. He had been the one pulling the strings behind the massacre, so everyone said. It came out somehow in one of the files Orochimaru had kept after Itachi had "died." Sasuke had come back after that, determined to kill the village elder but Tsunade, along with the rest of the village, had already taken care of it by the time the Uchiha came. Somehow, in a whirlwind of events that Sakura just couldn't remember too well, Sasuke had been convinced to stay. Naruto and she convinced him one way or another and she was glad. Still, she didn't trust Itachi. She didn't care what everyone else said, there was just something to that story that wasn't completely accurate.

Sasuke trusted Itachi. Why shouldn't she? Still, what had happened with Deidara? Sasuke had gone to report to Tsunade but she didn't know what he said. Did he tell the Hokage what he had heard from Itachi? She didn't know. And she was strangely curious now, what was going on? She didn't like being out of the loop. Especially since she was indirectly involved with the whole thing.

She hopped down from the tree landing lightly on her feet. She was going to find Sasuke again and see if he would answer her questions, for once. She had asked him before but her queries had been met with nothing more than, "Nothing you need to worry about." It infuriated her, it really did. Did they all think she couldn't handle what they were going to tell her? Did they think she was going to tell the whole village what was going on? Why couldn't she know? Why was she the only one?

Feeling her anger rise, she stalked towards the training grounds where she knew Sasuke would be. Sure enough, he was there when she arrived. For a moment, she stopped, watching him.

_He must have a good enough reason for not telling me…still, he hasn't given me one yet. I deserve to know what's going on! I have just as much right as anyone else; I'm a part of this too! Besides…I'm sure there's other ways I can find out…if this doesn't work. _

She began approaching the Uchiha, opening her mouth to say something.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked without turning around. He had noticed her already.

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms, annoyed.

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. What did you and Itachi talk about? What did you tell Tsunade-shisho? Where's that rogue? Deidara, I mean."

Sasuke turned to face her and sheathed the sword he had been practicing with.

"Itachi and I talked about Konoha. I told the Hokage what happened in Iwa and I don't know where in hell Deidara went. Probably back to Akatsuki."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. There was something else, she could tell.

"And?"

"And what?"

"There's more to this story. What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Oh come on! You keep saying that; why can't I know?"

"Sakura…"

"Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed.

"Alright fine. Whatever. Don't tell me. But can you at least tell me what Tsunade-shisho had decided about all this?"

"She thinks it's fine for now. She'll take the information though I'm not sure she still completely trusts him."

"So…are you going to get any more information anytime soon?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to respond when a tiny bird flew down from the sky and landed on his shoulder. Sakura took a closer look and saw that the bird appeared to be made of clay. Didn't Deidara use clay birds?

The bird held something in its mouth which Sasuke took. It was a small piece of rolled up paper. Sasuke unrolled the paper and glanced at it for a moment. Sakura took a step closer.

"What does it say?"

"It's from Deidara. He has something for us. He wants us to meet him."

"Oh, now?"

"I suppose."

Sakura turned her gaze towards the bird. It cocked its tiny head, looking at her. Sakura thought she was seeing things. It was only made of clay and chakra; how could it be looking at her?

"Do we need to let him know we're coming?"

"No."

"Then why is the bird still here?"

As if it knew she was talking about it, the bird alighted for a moment, flying over towards Sakura and perching on her shoulder.

"We're supposed to follow it."

She quirked an eyebrow. Follow a clay bird? It seemed laughable. Then again, she should probably be accustomed to odd things by now.

The bird chirruped and beat its little wings, hovering in front of them.

"Well, I suppose we should go then." She sighed.

* * *

He ran. He had run for a long time; two days and still he didn't stop. He didn't exactly know _where_ he was going; just that he had to go. Maybe he would go to the Land of Snow. There were very few ninja there and very few villages. And besides, not many people would want to go on a wild goose chase through snowy terrain. They'd all probably just leave him to die in the elements. But he could handle snow. He'd be able to figure something out from there.

Deidara slowed his pace a bit. He was beginning to feel tired. He'd been running for a long time with very little rest. He just couldn't afford getting caught. He would have flown to get farther but people would expect him to do that. And besides, flying wasted more chakra than running. Yet, he knew he would have to stop soon. He'd been going since early morning; it was mid-afternoon now. He had stopped once, briefly. Long enough to catch his breath and take a sip of water, but it hadn't really been a break.

_Where to stop is the question…_

He glanced around. No place seemed suitable. He sighed and began scanning the area ahead with his scope.

_I can't keep going like this. I'm going to collapse or something…_

Finally, he spotted a small village. He really was averse to going where people would see his face, but then again, he doubted anyone would recognize him in such place. And he could hide better among a few people than he could out in the open anyways. Sighing, he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, hoping that it might obscure his features a bit. He slowed his pace even further down to a gentle jog and eventually a walk as he entered the village.

As soon as he began walking he started to feel the rush of adrenaline that had been with him for so long fade away. He felt slightly dizzy, his legs were numb and he was extremely tired. He stumbled a bit, trying to keep himself awake while he found a place to rest.

His body would not cooperate. Blinking tiredly, he stumbled again and fell, catching himself on some sort of high stone wall. He looked around. The people didn't even seem to really notice him. They went about their business. If they had seen him, they ignored him. Deidara supposed the place was small, but not small enough to be into what everyone else was doing. For this he was slightly grateful.

He sank down to a sitting position with his back to the cold stone. He leaned his head back and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, staring listlessly ahead.

_So tired…_

He uncrossed his arms and tried to take in his surroundings but didn't notice much. His mind seemed foggy and his eyes felt heavy. Eventually, he leaned his head to the side and closed his eyes.

_I'll just stop here for a bit…then find some place to stay. _

…

_*Plink plop plink*_

_Huh? What's that?_

Deidara slowly opened his eyes and sat up. It was raining now, or actually, drizzling. But it had been enough to wake him up. Deidara blinked his eyes a few times and looked around. Not surprisingly, there were less people out now.

_Damnit…Just how long have I been asleep? Long enough to get wet at least…_

He still felt tired, but at least now he could _function_. Somewhat. He got up and looked around for a bit before finding an inn. He stood outside the door, contemplating whether or not to go in. He didn't want to have to interact with more people than necessary.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Deidara jumped back in surprise. An older woman poked her head out, mumbling something about the weather and turned to go back inside when her eyes fell on Deidara.

"You here to stay at the inn or are you just going to stand there getting soaked?" The woman asked sharply.

"I…was just passing through. I'll be going now, un."

Deidara turned to leave. Maybe the woods were better after all.

"Where could you be going in this weather? Only going to get worse you know."

"I'll figure it out, un." He mumbled in response.

The woman eyed him.

"You're not from around here, are you? I can tell by your accent, you know. Well, I can tell you, in a few minutes this harmless drizzle will become a downpour. You best come inside if you fancy staying _dry_. Unless you like being wet and miserable as you are now."

Deidara sucked in a breath. The woman had already seen him; what was the harm? He was awfully exhausted and soaked to the skin now from being out in the rain.

"Coming?"

He nodded slowly and followed the woman inside. He looked around a bit and saw some of the other guests stare at him as he entered. He lowered his head a bit and only hoped they couldn't see his face.

"How much, un?" He quietly asked the woman.

"Oh, were you worried about the money? Don't be. We can-"

"Is this good, un?" He asked, holding out some money at an arm's length to the woman.

It was all the money he had really. He didn't keep much of it and it never occurred to him to take any. He had been in a bit of a rush. He supposed it might be a good idea to figure out a way to get some more later, but right now this would have to work.

The woman took the money he offered and gave him a small smile.

"That's fine, honey. Let me show you to your room now."

Later, Deidara lay on a somewhat hard bed in drier clothes, staring up at the ceiling. The inn was by no means _nice,_ but it was dry and warmer than outside. Sighing, he pulled the coarse covers over his body and closed his eyes. He was too tired to think. He was too tired to do anything but _sleep_ at the moment.

* * *

_Colors. That's what there were: colors. But not how one would normally think of them. Colors brought to mind positive thoughts, generally. Sunny days, warmth, happiness, rainbows, cheer, but not these. These colors were a different class than the rest. _

_Red mixed with white and brown, turning a terrible rusty color. Black mixed with greys gave the illusion of a fog. Silver met a pale sort of peach color and red stained dark blue and green cloth. It was not beautiful. It was not cheerful. It was horrible. _

_The colors were all a blur but there were figures too. Figures that could vaguely be made out. All at once, everything snapped into focus as if someone had lifted a layer of translucent paper from a window; everything could be seen clearly. Figures danced around everywhere. There was noise too, but it was barely heard. Only one scene was shown clearly; a girl, pinned down, life draining out. _

_There was another person too. Someone else was there. Someone was screaming. They could barely be focused on. He only saw the girl. The girl and her wide eyes, full of pain and fear. Her body was crushed, but alive, if only for the moment. He wanted to help her. He ran to help her. As soon as he saw her he went to help her. He didn't know the reason. He only knew he had to. But too late._

_By the time he managed to get there, she was dead. Something else had hit her and she died. He didn't know her, and yet, he did. He felt bitter remorse for not getting there sooner. There was a terrible cry next to him. Another person fell down, dead. He was shocked as more of the scene unfolded and he could see bodies. So many of them. The ground was seeped in blood. So much had been spilled that the ground had become soft with it. _

_He looked around. The place was suddenly silent. Color seemed to have left. He seemed to be the only one alive. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. An overwhelming feeling of panic suddenly came over him and he turned and ran. He didn't make it far. He couldn't. For whatever reason, he felt dizzy and tired. As if he couldn't live in this place of death. He collapsed, vision blurring but heart pounding wildly. He wanted to leave. He wanted to leave so badly. There was no sound, even sight was failing. _

_He screamed._

* * *

Deidara woke with a start and shot up from the bed. Glancing around the room he realized where he was and slightly relaxed.

_That dream again…hmm…_

He didn't know what time it was but it felt like afternoon at least. He turned to look out the window and saw that it was still raining out. He sighed as he got up. He had wasted enough time; he needed to get going.

He quickly started getting himself ready but stopped as he grabbed his cloak and remembered something. Silently, he pulled out three scrolls and looked at them.

_Forgot I had these…what to do with them…_

He put the scrolls down on the bed and crossed his arms, staring at them for a moment. As if he was unsure of what he was doing, he grabbed the first one and slowly unrolled it. It was one of the scrolls he was supposed to give to Konoha.

_What am I supposed to do with this? _

He really just wanted to throw it out, but he felt guilty about that. If he did, then just anyone could find it and use it against the village. And he didn't necessarily want to destroy it when Konoha could use it. He frowned. He knew he was going to regret this. He put one of his hands in his clay pouches and made a small bird. Then, he wrote a short message and attached it to the little bird and opened the window sending the animal off to Konoha.

_Hmph. I'll just give it to them and leave. I don't have to tell them what I'm doing. _

Shaking his head he placed the scroll in his pocket and picked up the second one, turning it over for a moment before opening it up. Ah yes, he knew what this one was. The stolen kinjutsu scroll. Of course he had taken it; not like he wanted _Akatsuki_ to find it. He quickly scanned it over before jamming it in his pocket. He had never really bothered to learn any of the techniques printed on the scroll. He knew he could, but he just hadn't taken the time.

_No. Not worth it. I really shouldn't…but I wonder…_

He hesitantly pulled the scroll out again and unrolled it, reading through the techniques. His eyes fell on one specific jutsu and he found himself mumbling the instructions as if trying to memorize them.

_Wait a minute, what the hell am I doing?_

As if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't he suddenly stuffed the scroll deep inside his pocket.

_No. No, no, no. Don't even __**think**__ about that. I-I should destroy that thing. No use trying to give it back. They probably have a backup somewhere anyways. And even if they don't, who cares? It's forbidden after all…I should burn it or something…_

Yet, the instructions for the jutsu remained in his mind and he just couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to try it out, just to see if it would work.

He huffed out a breath. No, he wouldn't think about that anymore. He picked up the last scroll and unrolled it.

_Oh, this…_

It was the information on Tobi that Itachi had wanted. He remembered taking that; sneaking into one of Tobi's hidden rooms and just stealing it. He was actually surprised no one had found it; he had left it in his room when he went on his mission to Iwa and had only just grabbed it with his other things when he left. Either Tobi really didn't know it was missing or the masked ninja wanted one more reason to point fingers at him. He sincerely hoped it was the former though the latter was probably the more correct answer.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and began reading through the scroll, eyes widening at the information he was learning.

_So that's what…Ah, this all makes so much more sense now…_

He smirked slightly. It wasn't like he needed this information, now that he had run from Akatsuki, but just in case he ran into Tobi and Pein again; well, he had his trump card now. He carefully rolled up the scroll and put it away. It could serve to be useful later. But he frowned. He was actually quite angry from what he had learned.

_That sneaky little bastard! I should-ugh, that, that, IDIOT! Hm, but I suppose there's nothing to be done for it now. I don't have to worry about him anymore. I'm just leaving anyways. _

He got up.

_Time to go now…_

* * *

Deidara sat in the low overhanging branch of a tree rolling some clay in his hands as he waited for the Konoha ninja. He wished they would just hurry up; the whole matter was taking far too long for his liking. Each minute he sat there, simply waiting, was a minute he could have used to put more distance between himself and Akatsuki. He vaguely wondered if they had noticed he was missing.

_But that's stupid. It's been two days; they'd have to be really inept not to notice that. I wonder if they know where I've gone…and if they do, why are they not here already? Ugh, where __**are**__ those ninja? Wait, what's that?_

He stood up and masked his chakra. There was someone else in the area and he was betting it wasn't Sasuke or Sakura. Slowly, he began molding the clay he had been playing with. For all he knew, it _could_ just be a harmless farmer, or traveler, or a ninja passing through on a mission. Yet, somehow, he didn't think that was the case. The person came into view.

_Huh? What the hell? I'm sure he knows I'm here…_

Deidara shoved his clay back into its pouch and hopped lightly down from his branch, landing silently behind the person.

"Why are _you_ here, Itachi, un?"

Itachi turned seeming unsurprised at finding Deidara there. Deidara scowled.

_Impassive, as usual. _

"I should ask you the same question."

"None of your damn business. Leave me alone, un."

He turned, hoping Itachi would take the hint and just leave.

"You ran away."

Of course, he didn't have such luck.

"So?" Deidara asked indignantly. "What about it?"

"What happened?"

"_Nothing"_

"Then why did you leave?"

"Just go away, un!"

He shouldn't have stopped. He should have kept running. But if he ran now, Itachi might chase him. He might be able to outrun the Uchiha, might. He had to admit though, Itachi would most likely catch up to him.

"Deidara-"

"Shut up! I didn't ask for your help, un!"

Maybe he should try running. He couldn't stay around Itachi much longer. He _had_ to leave.

"Running won't help, you know."

"I didn't ask _your_ permission. Just leave me alone! You don't understand, un."

"You'll only have the same problems when you come back."

"Who says I'm coming back? Why do you _care_? Go find someone else to spy on Akatsuki, un!"

Itachi was silent for a moment before speaking.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know! What's the point to life anyways? Maybe I'll _die_. Then everyone would be happier. Wouldn't they? One less freak in the world. Just leave me the hell alone!"

He paused for a breath. He really needed to get a grip. He had been shouting at Itachi the whole time; he could feel himself beginning to lose it.

"Anyways," he started again in surprisingly calm tone. "I'll figure something out. I'm not incompetent, un."

Suddenly, the jutsu he had seen on the kinjutsu scroll was brought to mind. He remembered back to when he had thought about using the jutsu to defeat Itachi. He hadn't actually seen the jutsu then but he still had the scroll and had heard of the technique. He remembered planning on it ever since he had been forced into Akatsuki by the Uchiha. But, there had never been time to learn the technique. Someone was always around and he didn't want anyone to know that he still had Iwa's kinjutsu scroll. Then, Sasori had died and he thought about the technique once more.

He knew why he had been recollecting this event. He had run, or tried to, that time as well. No one seemed to notice it, he had been good at hiding his feelings, but he missed Sasori. Though they had often arguing about even the simplest of things, Sasori _understood_ him. He couldn't explain it, but somehow he just trusted the puppet master. He never did know if Sasori _really_ cared, he certainly didn't act like it, nevertheless Sasori had been a good partner and, to put it simply, Deidara had just felt a sense of safety with his partner.

Of course, when Sasori died, all that was gone. He just couldn't relate to the rest of the Akatsuki and he didn't particularly like any of them either. So he ran; it was all he was good at anyways. He had only stayed before because he knew Akatsuki would hunt him down and kill him and Sasori was the closest thing he had to a friend in years. Without Sasori, there was no point in Akatsuki.

Before he got very far, Itachi had chased him. Itachi chased him even before Akatsuki found out he had left. And because of Itachi, they never did find out. He had been angry at first, seeing the Uchiha. He had wanted to kill Itachi then and there. He had tried, in fact. He had his scroll; he would have used the jutsu. But, before he could do anything, Itachi talked.

The Uchiha had talked for longer than Deidara ever thought he could. He told the blonde all about what had happened with his family, he had told the ex-Iwa nin that he could understand and, for whatever reason, Deidara found he didn't really want to kill Itachi anymore. They had been more alike than Deidara had thought. That day he had told Itachi his own story and Itachi had proposed his plan. They hadn't exactly become friends but they shared each other's secrets.

Now, this all came flooding back to Deidara. He knew it was irrational, but he blamed Itachi for the mess, or, Itachi's Sharingan. He was hurt in more ways than one.

_If it hadn't been for that blasted Uchiha and his damn eyes I wouldn't be in this mess! I wouldn't be in this stupid organization in the first place. Maybe it's not Itachi's fault but it sure as hell is that __**stupid**__ Sharingan's. And just look what Tobi's doing! That…bastard! He's one of them too…and I have the proof. Damn them all and their stupid eyes. _

Itachi had been silent for a while yet.

"You underestimate your own importance."

The Uchiha's voice broke the still silence and snapped Deidara out of his musings.

"Right. Importance. Ha. That's a nice joke. Tobi doesn't want me around anymore and I'm sure as hell Pein probably doesn't either. I don't know why you're still here except that you can't find anyone else to go hide in Akatsuki for you and it's pretty obvious that none of the villages want anything to do with me, un."

Itachi was suddenly in front of Deidara.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. You know it's true. Nobody gives a damn about anything in this world except themselves so the certainly don't care about _me_. I don't have anything that anyone wants anymore. Except maybe Iwa wants my head and the hunter nin want my body for their prize money. Heheh, come to think of it, it's not much different from when I was in Iwa. Who cares about anything anymore? No one. And why-"

"That's enough Deidara!"

Itachi grabbed the blonde by his shoulders and glared at him. He didn't seem angry, but then, Deidara probably wouldn't be able to tell if he was. Deidara narrowed his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"_Nothing_, un" Deidara hissed.

"That's not true."

"You want to know what's wrong? You and your damned eyes, that's what! I wouldn't even be in this stupid organization in the first place if it weren't for _you_!"

Was it just him or did a look of momentary regret pass over Itachi's face?

"Deidara-"

"Hey, what's going on?"

Both former Akatsuki members turned to see Sasuke and Sakura standing there.

"Nothing" Deidara mumbled, sending one last glare at Itachi before turning the other way. "Here, this is what you came here for, un." He tossed the scroll towards the Konoha nin. Sasuke caught it and put it away.

"Are you sure there's not something going on here?" Sakura asked. "We heard shouting…"

"Never mind it, I was just leaving, un."

Itachi raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Deidara. "I have to go" was all he said before taking off. Deidara turned to leave.

"Why was Itachi here?" Sasuke asked.

"Go ask Itachi if you really want to know, un."

"Wait, where are you going?" Sakura wanted to know.

"Away, un"

"Away?"

"Yeah, really far away from all the idiots of the world, un."

"So wait, shouldn't we discuss things a bit more? I mean, what's the plan? Why is everyone acting this way?"

"Where are you going?" Sasuke put in.

"Just shut up the both of you! I'm going away and I'm _not_ coming back, un."

"Why?"

"Go ask you damn brother since he's the reason behind it all. Or better yet, go ask _Tobi. _You all understand one another anyways; you're all the same, un!"

"Deidara? What's wrong?"

"Yes, what the little kunoichi said, what's wrong, _senpai_?"

All three ninja whirled around to see Tobi, Pein, and Konan standing behind them. Sakura and Sasuke immediately assumed a fighting stance while Deidara simply stared at them.

_Of course. Should have known this would happen when Itachi came. _

"Deidara, what in the world is going on here?" Pein demanded to know.

"I think we know very well what is going on here, don't we Deidara?" Tobi tilted his head towards the blonde.

"I didn't ask you, Tobi." Pein retorted.

"Hmph. Everyone's on edge today."

"What does it look like, un?"

"It looks like we've found our little traitor." Tobi stated matter of factly.

"Speak for yourself, un."

"Now that's quite a funny joke you have there but nobody's laughing." Tobi said in a sinister voice.

"What do you mean?" Konan ventured.

"Stay out of this Konan." Tobi snapped.

"I will not! I came along and I have just as much right as you to ask questions!"

"Deidara, what is the meaning of this?" Pein asked again.

"I quit Akatsuki, un" was the cold reply.

"See? What did I tell you? I knew it all along." Tobi sneered.

Pein's face seemed to be vacant of any expression while Konan seemed, sad?

"Why don't you tell us what _else_ you've been doing these past few months, hm?"

"Save it Tobi." Surprisingly, this was Konan. "Deidara…why?"

"You all should know why. I never cared for this stupid organization in the first place. But before _Tobi_ goes pointing fingers again, you should know that he has other plans for Akatsuki, un."

Konan and Pein both turned slightly to look at Tobi.

"Nonsense. Akatsuki's goal is to create peace and I fully support that."

"Right. He wants to use the tailed beasts for to create a big illusion, see for yourself." Deidara stated calmly and pulled out the scroll he had looked at earlier. "He's been using everyone, un."

Tobi sighed. "I hate it when people give away the endings. Spoil all the fun. But I would like to know, where the hell did _you_ get _that_?"

So Tobi never did miss the scroll.

"Does it matter?"

"Let me see that." Pein demanded, and Deidara held out the scroll to his former leader. Pein unrolled the scroll and scanned it over while Konan read over his shoulder. Konan turned to glare at Tobi.

"Just what are your goals, Tobi?" The normally calm kunoichi's voice shook with anger. "What is the meaning of all this?"

"Come now Konan, did you actually think you could obtain peace through _your_ methods?"

"Why did we not hear of this before?" Pein asked, his cold gaze settling on Tobi.

Deidara backed up a bit as the three Akatsuki sent each other hard glares. This was his queue to go; he had done his job. They could all finish themselves now. He turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Sakura whispered. That's right; the Konoha ninja were still there. He had completely forgotten about them in the presence of the other Akatsuki.

"Leaving" he hissed, "what else would I be doing? If you two know what's best, you should leave too, un."

"Just where do you think you're heading off to, Deidara? Our little meeting's not over yet." Tobi's voice was anything but welcoming.

"I'd say you have bigger problems on your hands, un." Deidara gave a nod in Pein's direction who was still calmly glaring at Tobi.

"Hm, you may be right. What do you think, _Nagato_?"

"It's over, Tobi. Akatsuki no longer affiliates with you."

Tobi laughed menacingly. "_Akatsuki_? Heh, I think that Akatsuki no longer affiliates with _you_ were that the case. This organization belongs to me now. So are you sure you want to be doing this? You going to trust that kid over me? He was the one slipping Konoha all our little secrets."

Pein's unsettling gaze shifted to Deidara, then to Tobi, then back again.

"That war was your idea, Tobi, not mine. He did no harm to Akatsuki's overall goal by telling Konoha _your_ plans. _You_ are the real traitor here, not Deidara. We no longer need you anymore."

"Is that the way it is then?" Tobi crossed his arms. "Just look at all the problems you caused Deidara. Who knew one shinobi could make so much trouble in a great organization such as mine?" Tobi scoffed.

"What are you going to do about it then, un?"

Tobi tilted his head.

"Sasuke, yes, I know who you are. What do you think about this whole matter?"

Everyone turned to glance at the Uchiha who seemed to be slightly shocked.

"I have nothing to do with any of this."

"Oh you don't? Who was the one to meet with our little traitor here? Who brought the information to the Hokage? You have more to do with this than you know."

"None of this has anything to do with me."

"Oh, but it does. Why are you with Konoha anyways? You know what they had Itachi do. So the question remains, why?"

Sasuke only stared at Tobi, the Sharingan swirling in his eyes. Tobi laughed.

"I'm your friend here. Konoha will only use you like they used Itachi. Trust me, I know."

Deidara swore that he could see the Sharingan from the eyehole in Tobi's mask.

"Sasuke don't listen to him!" Sakura pleaded.

"Hm, your rather annoying little kunoichi; I don't like you." Tobi stated.

"Hey, I wasn't talking to you!"

"But I'm talking to you."

"Tobi, leave. Now." Pein said darkly.

"_You're_ giving _me_ orders? Well, it doesn't matter; I'm not going anywhere just yet." Tobi turned his attention back towards the Konoha ninja. "Well Sasuke, what do you think?" Sasuke only stared.

Deidara had enough. Quietly, he backed up, then ran.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

Tobi was right on his tail. A cursory glance around and he noticed the others were following too, though, as to whether they were following him or Tobi he was uncertain.

Deidara turned and threw some hastily made bombs towards Tobi who easily dodged.

"You're going to have to do better than that _senpai_."

In a moment, Tobi was on top of him and knocked him down towards the ground. He landed on his feet and started to mold some more clay but Tobi came at him again, forcing him to block a blow.

"I know you don't favor taijutsu matches so let's make this quick, shall we?" Tobi laughed menacingly.

Deidara said nothing but set his face and pulled out a kunai. It was true; taijutsu wasn't one of his strengths. He wasn't altogether _bad_ at it he just preferred to fight from a distance if he could. Still, this would be a problem. He didn't know how Tobi fought; when the two had been partnered it was always Deidara who did the fighting, but he also knew Tobi was a master at dodging blows. Hell, he could even punch Tobi square in the gut and his technique would go right through the masked ninja. Literally, it would go through him.

_If only I could find some way to get in the air…Tobi wouldn't be able to reach me from there. _

Tobi sent a few more attacks his way and he countered with a few techniques of his own. He saw Pein and Konan land somewhere behind Tobi and rush forward. Before they got very far, however, they were blocked by Hidan and Kakuzu who came out from somewhere.

_Where did those two come from? They must be working for Tobi…_

Tobi suddenly landed a blow to Deidara's face.

"It would be wise to pay attention to what you're doing Dei-chan. You never know when something might pop up."

Deidara growled lowly as his focus snapped back towards his former partner. Tobi threw more attacks his way putting Deidara on the defensive until he finally managed to hit the masked ninja. Tobi stumbled back a bit in surprise, cursing. Not wasting any time, Deidara began quickly molding a clay bird, but before he could launch it, Tobi retaliated.

_Damn! Well, at least I have the bird for the next time…_

Try as he might, Deidara couldn't seem to land another blow. And though Tobi wasn't exactly getting any hits in either, Deidara was in a defensive position for a good portion of the fight. Deidara could vaguely see the other Akatsuki fighting in the background. From his vantage point, he couldn't see much or really concentrate on them, but it seemed to him that Pein and Konan were winning.

_Of course they would though. Pein's the leader; he's got to be powerful even though none of us have ever seen him fight. _

Tobi swept at Deidara, nearly knocking the blonde off his feet. Deidara jumped back slightly before rushing back with his kunai again. He really needed to figure out a way to get in the air. He heard someone land behind him and only hoped Tobi didn't have more subordinates hanging around. He spared a glance backwards and saw that it was only Sakura and Sasuke. He turned back quickly but Tobi had taken advantage of the blonde's momentary distraction and now hit him with full force, sending Deidara flying backward.

_Damnit! Pay attention idiot!_

Deidara was about to jump back when a thought came to him. He quickly pulled out his bird and threw it in the air while Tobi rushed at him. Right before the masked ninja could strike another blow, he jumped up and landed on the bird.

_Actually, that worked out._

"Hm, pretty crafty of you there. But what are you going to do now?"

"Heh, you're fully aware that now _I'm_ the one with the advantage, un."

"Maybe, but you still have to be able to hit me."

Deidara huffed in answer to that. It was true, he still had to actually _land_ a blow. But at least now he could focus more on attacking. Quickly, he made some fast moving bombs and sent them towards Tobi who jumped back towards the Konoha ninja.

"Are you two just here to watch? And Sasuke, remember what I said."

"You shut up!" Sakura shouted and swung a chakra enhanced punch towards Tobi who merely jumped backwards. Sakura began engaging with Tobi while Sasuke simply looked unsure of what to do. He had drawn his katana and his Sharingan was swirling in his eyes, but he watched for a moment more before hesitantly attacking Tobi.

Deidara sat back on his bird for a moment, trying to think. The problem now was the Konoha ninja. He didn't want to blow _them_ up but they were getting in the way. He was just going to have to careful was all. Quickly, he swooped his bird in and sent some bombs towards Tobi. Tobi dodged before blocking a blow from Sasuke and jumping out of the way of Sakura's technique. Deidara swooped in again but this time Tobi jumped up and landed next to him on the bird.

_Damnit, should have seen that coming!_

Tobi swung at Deidara's head while the blonde ducked and swept Tobi down so that the masked ninja fell from the bird, but not before he grabbed Deidara's arm, pulling him down too. Both of them landed on the ground. Deidara quickly got back up and jumped back, making another bomb. He hastily sent it towards Tobi who was just getting up.

"Looks like I've won, un." Deidara smirked, but his face quickly twisted into a look of shock as Tobi suddenly pulled Sakura into the path of the projectile and vanished.

Deidara watched in wide-eyed horror as _his_ bomb detonated mere centimeters from the kunoichi. There was a deafening *_boom!_* as the object exploded, but he didn't hear it. He hadn't cared much for Sakura; how could he when he barely knew her? But he never meant to hurt her. He watched as the impact blew back her now disfigured body and she fell to the ground, lifeless. Time stood still. A certain memory flashed through his head, the one that had been plaguing his dreams. He wanted to run to her and help but he was rooted to his spot. The scenario was all too familiar.

He thought he heard a scream, but he wasn't certain if it was someone around him or just part of the memories flooding his mind. He looked at Sakura, but he didn't see her. He saw that girl, from so long ago, the one crushed by the boulders. How he had regretted that, even though the rational part of his brain told him it _really_ wasn't his fault. He couldn't help but feel responsible. After all, it was he who gave that band of mercenaries the means to attack Iwa. Unwillingly, but still he had done it. And he had tried to fix it. But he couldn't, he couldn't save the girl just like he couldn't save Sakura now. He cursed Itachi's Sharingan for bringing him to Akatsuki and, by extension, where he was now. Yet, deep down, he blamed _himself_ for all of it. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have been so careless?

Reality came back into focus and hit him like the force of a ton of bricks. A quick glance-around would have shown Tobi, Hidan, and Kakuzu gone, leaving the rest of them, but he hardly stopped to look. Immediately, he made his way to Sakura's unmoving body but stopped about a foot away. He just noticed Sasuke standing there too. He couldn't see the Uchiha's expression but he wasn't getting a pleasant aura from the Konoha ninja. One look and he instantaneously knew what was going on. Sakura was dead; there was nothing to be done. And it had been his fault.

"…I'm…sorry…I'm so sorry…" the blonde mumbled bitterly, finding his words again. "I didn't mean…Tobi was…and then…I'm sorry…I just…I didn't…"

"Shut up."

Deidara unconsciously bit his lower lip and hung his head a bit.

"This is all your damn fault." The anger was obvious in Sasuke's voice.

"I know…I'm sorry…."

"Shut up! How could you? How could you have done this? She didn't do anything to you!"

"It's not like I meant it, un!"

"Shut up! If you didn't mean it why did you do it?"

"It was an accident, you saw!"

"Oh yes, I saw; I saw you attack her." Sasuke stated coldly and turned around, Sharingan swirling in his eyes.

"It wasn't like that! Tobi…Tobi was there…look I'm sorry, damnit! Go blame your damn brother for this _mess_! It's his fault I'm even here, his and that stupid Sharingan's, un!"

"Itachi has nothing to do with this."

All of a sudden, Sasuke rushed at Deidara, katana drawn. Deidara quickly gathered his wits and moved in the nick of time.

"What's going on?" Pein's deep voice caused both ninja to stop.

Of course Pein and Konan were still there. They had taken some time to assess the situation first before stepping in. Deidara stopped to look back at Sakura's body, then to each of the ninja standing there.

_Look at what you've done, idiot. Look where your damn carelessness got you. You killed her! Well, stop standing there. Leave before you do something else stupid. _

He turned and ran. He ran as fast as he could, despite being a little low on chakra from his battle with Tobi. He didn't check if the others were following him and he didn't care. He simply ran with one thought on his mind.

_You damn fool._

* * *

Sasuke couldn't believe what was happening. It was as if everything was moving in slow motion now. He hadn't felt this way since his parents died. And it was all that damn blonde bastard's fault. It was his attack that killed Sakura, no matter how it happened. He said it was an accident; it didn't matter. The idiot should have been more careful.

When Deidara ran he didn't bother chasing after the blonde. Oh, the blonde would get what was coming to him, no doubt, but Sasuke had other matters to attend to at the moment. He looked back at Sakura's body for the last time.

_Goodbye Sakura-chan…Don't worry, I will get your revenge. _

He activated his Amaterasu and watched her body slowly burn in front of him. Then, without saying a word, he brushed past the other two Akatsuki who seemed to be debating over something, and left to find Tobi.

* * *

Everything felt like it was moving too quickly for Nagato. Ever since Konan had come rushing to him, telling him that Deidara was gone things hadn't exactly been running smoothly.

His first thought was to be angry with the blonde; Konan had said the boy had left his Akatsuki cloak and ring behind, effectively conveying his message that he no longer wanted anything to do with Akatsuki. But, once the three of them had found the blonde, he wasn't so sure. Deidara had been angry and even cold, but years of experience as a shinobi as well as his own experience with suffering had shown him the blonde was hurting emotionally and mentally. He was drawn back to his conversation with Konan; how could he have let Tobi treat the kid like that? Deidara certainly didn't _deserve_ it.

His anger shifted to Tobi when he saw the words on the scroll that Deidara gave him. Where the blonde had gotten it, he wasn't certain, but one thing was for sure. Tobi was obviously hiding something. And Tobi had not denied that the scroll belonged to him, in fact, he seemed very angry that Deidara had it in the first place. Well, Tobi was gone now. Apparently, he had some who were still loyal to him as shown by Hidan and Kakuzu's appearance.

The problem now was, what to do? Deidara had run off again after that Konoha kunoichi had died. He wasn't entirely sure how it had happened but apparently the young Uchiha blamed it on his former subordinate. Konan had wanted to chase after the kid but Nagato wasn't so sure that was a good idea. Deidara didn't want to see any of them. The blonde probably wouldn't listen to them. And they did not need to worry about Deidara spilling anything secret about Akatsuki. He was sure the blonde just wanted to forget all about Akatsuki as soon as humanly possible. It didn't matter anyways. It wasn't like they had many things to really protect now that Tobi was gone.

That brought him to his next issue, Tobi. Tobi was going to have to be dealt with. The problem was, who in Akatsuki could he trust? Were Deidara still there and were he willing, Nagato would have offered him to join them. He could trust Deidara with their true purpose. Sure, the blonde had been going under their noses, but as he had pointed out to Tobi none of that was originally his plan. Deidara was simply doing what he felt was right. And the blonde had been useful in proving to him that Tobi should be dropped like a hot potato.

Yet, Deidara was gone. Run off and he didn't want to force the boy back anymore. It wouldn't be beneficial. Maybe the blonde would come back on his own accord. Nagato could hope. He sighed. Their task was seemingly impossible.

Suddenly, he turned around.

"What the hell?" He heard Konan mumble next to him and silently agreed.

"Itachi. You were dead." Nagato stated matter-of-fact.

Itachi simply stared calmly ahead at Nagato. "There is no longer any need to stay hidden. We all know what Tobi is doing now." He stated.

"What are you doing here?"

"Tobi must be stopped."

"Are you offering help?"

"I was always helping."

The statement stunned Nagato momentarily before he realized what the Uchiha meant. Deidara hadn't been working alone.

"I see. What do you suggest then?"

"We need to stop Tobi."

"Yes"

"He has the rest of Akatsuki with him?"

"He must."

"Deidara ran away again?"

"Yes"

"We should find him."

"He wouldn't listen."

"He will."

"If you say so."

"It is better to have more help against Tobi. Deidara will come. But, we should discuss some other things first."

"Fine, but not here. Let's go."

* * *

Deidara ran without stopping, much like the last time. This time, however, he was determined not to be found by anyone. He stayed away from towns as much as possible and only took absolutely necessary breaks. He wasn't even sure where he was going anymore, but he didn't care. He simply wanted to get as far away from everyone as possible. Somehow, he eventually found himself in an unknown land. He was in some sort of forest now. The air was damp, moist and cold as a slight drizzle fell from the sky. He shivered slightly but did not slow his pace.

He had been running for days now. How many exactly he hadn't really bothered to count. But he knew it had been at least three. His legs felt numb but he didn't stop. He wouldn't until he had to. Eventually, the drizzle became a downpour and the forest grew darker. He knew it must be getting close to nighttime but still he kept going. He could still see, sort of. He wouldn't stop until it was pitch black out.

Yet, the rain came down ever harder. He couldn't see where he was going, really. Some part of him told him to stop; this was irrational. He couldn't see, it was dark, it was wet, it was cold and he was dead tired. Still, that part of his brain was pushed aside. He couldn't stop. He couldn't.

_*Splash!*_

He tripped over a particularly wet and slippery root of a big tree, turning his ankle painfully and landing face first in a large puddle of water that had been pooling at the bottom.

_Ugh, damnit!_

He tried to pick himself up but now that he was on the ground he found himself with very little strength left.

_Come on, get up idiot!_

But he couldn't. He mentally cursed as he put his head back down and lay in the pool of water, lacking the strength to even drag himself away from the water to a drier spot. His vision began fading slowly, though he fought to stay awake.

_I…can't…fall asleep…not here…nn…_

Deidara's eyes shot open as he bolted up from where he was lying. The world began spinning so he let himself back down slowly though his eyes began to take everything in. He wasn't outside anymore, he was in some sort of cave, and there must be a fire since there seemed to be a heat source coming from somewhere though he didn't see any at the moment. His head throbbed, his ankle throbbed and he felt cold. He knew he couldn't have dragged himself anywhere; what had happened?

"You're awake."

Wait, he knew that voice.

"_Sasori no danna?_"

Deidara turned over on his side and sure enough there was the puppet master, in all his glory, sitting next to him, poking at a small fire.

_I must be dreaming; Sasori's dead! I'm still outside…that must be it. Sleep deprivation…it's catching up with me._

"Yes brat. I see you're still getting yourself in trouble. What the hell are you doing all the way out here?"

"You're…you're dead, un!"Deidara exclaimed.

"Tuh, do you really think I would have let myself be killed so easily? Do I look dead to you?"

"But…but you were…I saw…" Deidara broke off, coughing harshly.

Sasori turned and Deidara could sense the puppeteer frowning down on him. A cool hand brushed across his forehead. He heard Sasori mumble something to himself as the blonde's coughing subsided.

"How long were you out in that damn rain for anyways?"

"Dunno" He rasped out. He suddenly felt very tired.

"You twisted your ankle up pretty badly." Sasori stated, still frowning. "What were you doing?"

What did it matter if he told Sasori? He wasn't even so sure this Sasori was real. For all he knew, he was still outside in the rain, maybe delirious or something. And if Sasori was real then he wouldn't mind telling the puppet master.

"Running away, un" he coughed again.

"Here" Sasori helped him up and pushed a glass of water into his hands which he drank before laying back down. "Now, what were you running from?"

"Akatsuki, un"

"That's stupid." Sasori deadpanned. Deidara didn't mind though. Sasori had always seemed to think a lot of the things Deidara did were stupid.

"That's not the half of it, un." He mumbled.

For a minute both were silent. Deidara closed his eyes momentarily and listened to the patter of the rain and the crackling of the fire. Well, if Sasori _was_ really alive, how had he done it?

"Danna?"

"What?"

"How are you alive, un?"

"I told you, I wouldn't be that stupid. I have my ways. For now we'll just say I was prepared for such a case as that to happen."

"Oh…" not a real answer but then, did it matter? If Sasori was fake then it was all just his imagination. If Sasori was real, who cared _how _it happened, the puppet master was there. Though one thing was bugging him. "How did you find me, un?" _And what were __**you **__doing out here?_

"You weren't that hard to miss. I was out getting supplies when I sensed your chakra. So I brought you here."

"Oh, um thanks I guess, un."

"Whatever brat."

"Um, danna?"

"What now?"

"Why didn't you come back to Akatsuki if you were alive? What were you doing, un?" _Why did you leave me alone?_

"Akatsuki thought I was dead, did they not? I had no use for them anyways. It worked out best for the both of us. I have been able to make more puppets this way."

Deidara still didn't quite understand, but he supposed it made sense. He coughed roughly and turned over on his side, struggling to keep his eyes open. He didn't want this dream to end. Sasori noticed Deidara battling his sleepy state.

"Just sleep Deidara. You haven't slept in a while from the looks of it; you need rest."

Still, he struggled a bit more until the feeling of sleep overpowered him and he was lulled into unconsciousness by the pattering of the rain on the roof of the cave.

* * *

**A/N: Yes. I did. I killed Sakura. I brought Sasori back. DEAL WITH IT! :p And Pein's part...I really didn't know what to write there...just had to do something...so...yeah...that's what happened. And the part with Sasori did not go AT ALL how I planned. *Sigh* Oh well...it's alright I suppose. **

**I really don't know what Sasuke is going to do so don't ask. He's just...Sasuke...didn't really know how to write his part either...(I'm kinda running out of ideas here xP) So...yeah...hopefully the wait for the next chapter won't be SO long. **


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